'Shang-Chi' shattering box office expectations

The Asian and Asian American cast of "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings."

Disney is happy. Marvel is happy! Theater owners are happy. Simu Liu, the star of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, is happy, (and perhaps prescient) as the first Marvel film with an Asian American superhero as it's lead is breaking box office records this Labor Day weekend.

By the time the Labor Day weekend is over, Shang-Chi is predicted to haul in a record-shattering $90 million. Add on global receipts and the total could reach $140 million.

Most of all, it appears, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are happy. AAPI moviegoers flocked to the theaters to watch the latest movie from the Marvel Comic Universe (MCU) because it's hero and good percentage of it's cast look like the AAPI film fans. 

COVID-19 health restrictions such as mask-wearing and limiting audiences failed to deter movie audiences. Asian American markets such as San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Honolulu overperformed as expected, reports Deadline. Eight of the top ten theaters for Shang-Chi came out of New York and Los Angeles with the largest AAPI audiences. The AMC San Francisco Metreon and Disney Orlando rounded out the top ten.

Furthermore, Hollywood should be paying attention to who is actually leaving the comfort of their living room couches and going to theaters to enjoy that feeling of being with kindred souls. According to Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak:

Eighteen percent of the movie's audience were AAPI. Together with Latino (22%) and Black (18%) audiences, people of color made up  58% of the audience. Whites comprised only 36% of the movie's audience.

For a long time, AAPI community advocates have been clamoring for greater and more wide-ranging Asian representation. These numbers indicate an Asian-led film has appeal beyond the AAPI audience. Shang-Chi has a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, a movie review website.

Before its general release Thursday, star Simu Liu wrote a letter thanking all of those involved in the making of film and about the importance of their project as "a sharing of culture." He posted a picture of a young boy and girl looking up at the screen featuring the hero Shang-Chi fighting off the villains.

"This film will change the world," he posted on social media. "A smile where there wasn’t one before. Pride where there was shame. Compassion where there was ignorance. If we reach out and touch even one person, then aren’t all of our lives better for it?"

Whether a 2-hour, 12-minute movie can change the world is a tall order and that's a lot to put on a single film. But what Hollywood has to conclude from the huge weekend draw is that the moviegoing  audience reflects the changes that is reshaping America. 

The US Census says that the AAPI population is the fastest growing ethnic group in the country and more people are moving to urban areas where Democrats and progressive influences are strong.

The release of the film and its financial and artistic achievements come at a time when Asian Americans are under attack, racial bigotry is on the rise and the role of AAPI in U.S. history is being debated in academic and cultural circles.

As 2018's Crazy Rich Asians was groundbreaking in opening the door to a series of features such as The Farewell, Minari, Yellow Rose and the upcoming Blue Bayou; Shang-Chi will hopefully swing the door a little bit wider by expanding the treasure trove of storylines, including AAPI stories, using AAPI talent to produce, write, direct and act in those projects.

What the weekend proves is that the audience is way ahead of studio decision makers, whose biases, personal preferences and life experiences still dictate which films get greenlighted.