In more encouraging theatrical news, Shang-Chi has worked its audience-pulling magic for more than just Disney. With attendance topping out at more than 2 million people for AMC theaters alone over the Labor Day weekend, it’s a new record- and a very promising one for an industry-wide recovery, too. We asked Brandon Blake, founding partner at Blake and Wang P.A and highly experienced entertainment attorney Los Angeles, for further details.
Brandon Blake- Managing Partner at Blake & Wang P.A.
Firstly, this new record sees 2021 weekend attendance figures break a 2019 weekend record for the first time. This isn’t a pandemic-only record for AMC, either. It’s also the largest attendance record for U.S-based cinemas over the Labor Day weekend in the company’s history.
So the message is clear- U.S crowds are more than eager to get back to enjoying a day at the theatre. This fits with data suggesting that people see the cinema as a cheap, safe, and simple way to get out of the house. This should go a long way to assuage worries around theatrical release windows, and perhaps encourage a lessening of the controversial day-and-date release strategies that have been in place throughout most of the global health events.
Shang-Chi, Disney’s latest MCU release, has been a big driver in the surge, netting over $71M in ticket sales over the weekend and earning a spot as the second-highest opening through the pandemic period. Unlike Black Widow, however, it’s managed to sustain that push through a successful second weekend and continues to pull crowds through the door.
Shang-Chi’s $90M Box Office haul also topples the previous Labor Day weekend record of $30M for Halloween in 2007. That’s a remarkable success in itself. Labor Day has never been a big blockbuster drawcard in the U.S market, but this may change going forward- after all, America is clearly thirsty for something to do over the holiday weekend.
Unsurprisingly, this remarkable good news also led to a 7% leap in share price for AMC as of Tuesday last week, which should buoy the controversial market activity AMC has seen this year towards sustainable pricing and steady growth.
