Marvel’s first Asian superhero film could open at $52 million

At the AMC theater in San Francisco’s Japantown, the Edward M. Lee Asian Pacific Democratic Club is holding a screening of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on Friday where it expects the 448 seats to sell out.

The club wants to show Hollywood that films with Asian casts are good investments, sending that message now when people are skittish about going to theaters and attendance might be weak for the first-ever Marvel picture featuring an Asian actor as the lead.

“We know we have to vote with our wallets,” said Jay Cheng, a board member of the club.

Walt Disney Co. is releasing Shang-Chi at a perilous time for the theater industry. The recent surge of the coronavirus delta variant has left cinemas struggling to even match last year’s box office numbers. Just this week, Paramount Pictures pushed the release date for its widely anticipated Top Gun sequel into next year. Such films typically carry production budgets in excess of $150 million, with much more spent to distribute and market them.

Disney, meanwhile, is taking a large bet on the big screen. Several of the company’s most-anticipated films this year were released simultaneously in theaters and on the company’s Disney+ streaming service for a $30 fee. Others just went right to streaming. Shang-Chi will play exclusively in theaters for 45 days.

Also read: Feels like a moment in culture: 'Shang-Chi' star Simu Liu on playing Marvel's first Asian superhero

The company has put its marketing machine behind it, reaching out to Asian-American charities, influencers and professional groups. It held a separate press day for Asian-American journalists, signed a sponsorship with sparkling water company Sanzo, which put the Shang-Chi characters on its popular Lychee flavor, and made “Run It,” one of the songs from the soundtrack, the official anthem for college football on ESPN.

The efforts could build momentum for Asian-led films in Hollywood that took off with Crazy Rich Asians three years ago and continued with South Korea’s Parasite winning the best picture at the Oscars last year. Coming at a time when Asian hate crimes are on the rise lends a particular significance, according to Elaine Chang, an associate professor of English and theater studies at Canada’s University of Guelph.

“Even in the preview, I was screaming,” she said. “I can’t wait.”

Shang-Chi stars Simu Liu, best-known for his work on the Canadian sitcom Kim’s Convenience, as the son of a Chinese crime boss being dragged back into his father’s schemes. The cast includes Asian-American actress Awkwafina, who was also in Crazy Rich Asians, as his sidekick. Hong Kong martial arts star Tony Leung plays his dad. It was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, a Hawaii native of Japanese descent.

Asian Americans made up about 7 per cent of all frequent moviegoers in 2019, a slightly larger percentage than their share of the overall population, according to the Motion Picture Association trade group. Only about 3 per cent of the top-grossing films released from 2007 to 2019 featured an Asian actor in a lead or co-lead role, according to the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Reviews for Shang-Chi have been strong, earning 91 per cent approval from critics on the aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. It is expected to generate $52 million over the three-day Labor Day weekend domestically, according to researcher Boxoffice Pro.

While that could set a record for the holiday, traditionally a slow one for the industry, it will likely pale next to similar pre-pandemic films. Black Panther, the first Marvel film to feature a largely Black cast, took in $202 million in its 2018 debut. Captain Marvel, the first female-led one, generated $153 million a year later.

Many of the markets that are hardest to predict are in Asia, where some countries have once again closed theaters due to the pandemic.

Also read: Marvel eyes China with 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'

In China, where theaters are open, a number of big Hollywood films have yet to snag release dates, including Shang-Chi. In the 100th anniversary year of the founding of the country’s communist party, local films are getting all the attention, according to Stanley Rosen, a professor of political science at USC.

Disney’s release strategy for theaters and streaming has already gotten it in hot water domestically. Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson sued the company in July, saying the decision to put her film online at the same time as theaters cost her the box office bonuses she would have earned with a theater-only debut. After Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek referred to the 45-day release in theaters for “Shang-Chi” as an “interesting experiment,” its lead actor pushed back.

“We are not an experiment,” Liu tweeted. “We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers.”

At the film’s Aug. 16 premiere in Los Angeles, “Shang-Chi” producer Jonathan Schwartz walked the red carpet, decorated with props and costumes from the movie, and answered questions from the press.

“I think it’s going to mean a lot for representation, hopefully inspiring Asian-American audience members,” he said. “I also think it’s going to be just a great big Marvel movie, introducing a new fun superhero into the mix.”