“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film introduces a new superhero.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the new film and this new superhero.
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a 2021 American superhero film
- It is based on the Marvel Comics featuring the character Shang-Chi
- Produced by Marvel Studios
- Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- It is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
- The film is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton
- From a screenplay he wrote with Dave Callaham and Andrew Lanham
- From a story by Cretton and Callaham
- It stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi alongside Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, and Tony Leung
- In the film, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past after he is drawn into his father’s Ten Rings organization
- A film based on Shang-Chi entered development in 2001
- But work did not begin in earnest until December 2018 when Callaham was hired
- Cretton joined in March 2019
- The project was fast-tracked as Marvel’s first film with an Asian lead
- The film’s title and primary cast were announced that July
- Revealing the film’s connection to the Ten Rings organization
- The organization previously appeared throughout the MCU, and its leader, Wenwu, portrayed by Leung
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the first Marvel Studios film with an Asian director and a predominantly Asian cast
- Filming began in February 2020
- It was put on hold in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Production resumed in August before completing in October
- With additional shooting occurring in Sydney and San Francisco
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings premiered in Los Angeles on August 16, 2021
- It was released in the United States on September 3
- It is a part of Phase Four of the MCU
- The film received positive reviews from critics
- Praising the choreography of the action scenes, exploration and representation of Asian culture, and the performances from Liu and Leung
- According to Margaret Loesch, former president and CEO of Marvel Productions, Stan Lee discussed a potential film or television series based on the Marvel Comics character Shang-Chi with actor Brandon Lee and his mother Linda Lee during the 1980s
- With the intention of having Brandon Lee star as the character
- Brandon’s father, martial arts legend Bruce Lee, was the visual inspiration for artist Paul Gulacy when drawing Shang-Chi during his tenure on the Master of Kung Fu comic book series in the 1970s
- In 2001, Stephen Norrington signed a deal to direct a Shang-Chi film entitled The Hands of Shang-Chi
- By 2003, the film was in development at DreamWorks Pictures with Yuen Woo-Ping replacing Norrington as director and Bruce C. McKenna hired to write the screenplay
- Ang Lee joined the project as a producer in 2004
- But the film did not materialize after that point and the rights to the character reverted to Marvel
- In September 2005, Marvel chairman and CEO Avi Arad announced Shang-Chi as one of ten properties being developed as films by the newly formed Marvel Studios
- The company received financing to produce the slate of ten films which were to be distributed by Paramount Pictures
- Shang-Chi was put on a list of characters that Marvel thought could make great films despite being relatively unknown, since he had a “very Disney story” in the comic books
- The Ten Rings were featured in the first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, Iron Man (2008), without their leader the Mandarin
- Marvel Studios then planned to feature the Mandarin in a film that could do the character “supreme justice” and showcase his complexity
- Which Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige felt they could not do in the Iron Man films because those focused on Tony Stark / Iron Man
- According to Chris Fenton, former president of the Chinese-based film production company DMG Entertainment that was in talks with Marvel Studios to co-produce their films, Marvel offered to create a teaser featuring either Shang-Chi or the Mandarin for the Chinese market that would be featured at the end of The Avengers (2012)
- DMG balked at the offer, since the Mandarin’s negative stereotypical portrayal in the comics could potentially prevent the film from releasing in China and risk shutting down DMG as a company
- The Mandarin would eventually appear in the DMG co-produced film Iron Man 3 (2013) portrayed by Ben Kingsley
- He was revealed to be imposter Trevor Slattery posing as the Mandarin
- Kingsley reprises the role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Feige felt this fake Mandarin did not necessarily mean that a more faithful version of the character did not exist in the MCU
- By December 2018, Marvel had fast-tracked development of a Shang-Chi film with the intent of making it their first film with an Asian lead
- Marvel hired Chinese-American writer Dave Callaham to write the screenplay, and began looking at Asian and Asian-American filmmakers to potentially direct the film
- The studios’ goal was to explore Asian and Asian-American themes presented by Asian and Asian-American filmmakers, as they had done for African and African-American culture with Black Panther earlier in 2018
- Development of the film also came following the success of the film Crazy Rich Asians that was likewise released earlier in 2018 and led to several other Asian-led properties being developed by Hollywood studios
- Callaham’s script was expected to modernize elements of the character’s comic book story, which was first written in the 1970s, to avoid what modern audiences would consider to be negative stereotypes
- When Callaham began work on the script, he became emotional realizing it was the first project where he was asked to write “from my own experience, from my own perspective”
- Richard Newby of The Hollywood Reporter said the film could “break out in a way similar to Black Panther” by bringing a new perspective to the character
- Newby felt Shang-Chi could have worked well as a television series, and said it “speaks volumes” that Marvel would decide to make a feature film about the character instead
- Newby concluded that the film is an opportunity to avoid stereotypes about Asian martial artists and be “more than Marvel’s Bruce Lee”
- Marvel Studios hired Japanese-American filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton to direct the film in March 2019
- Deborah Chow, Justin Tipping, and Alan Yang were also considered
- Cretton admitted he had previously not been interested in directing a superhero film, but was drawn to the project to help create a world and character that Asian children could look up to and see themselves in
- In April, Marvel Studios and Australian Arts Minister Mitch Fifield announced that an upcoming Marvel film, believed to be Shang-Chi, would be filmed at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney and on location throughout the state of New South Wales
- The production received AU$24 million (US$17 million) in one-off funding from the Australian government, as well as backing from the AU$10 million (US$7 million) “Made in NSW” state fund
- The production was expected to generate AU$150 million (US$107 million) for the Australian economy as well as 4,700 new jobs, while taking advantage of around 1,200 local businesses
- Don Harwin, the New South Wales Arts Minister, confirmed in July that this film was Shang-Chi and that it would be produced back-to-back with Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- Production on Shang-Chi was set to be completed before work began on Love and Thunder later in 2020
- Recording for the film’s score, composed by Joel P. West, began at Abbey Road Studios in London by June 2021
- West scored Cretton’s four previous films
- The film’s score was released digitally by Marvel Music and Hollywood Records on September 1, 2021
- Marvel Music, Hollywood Records, and Interscope Records also released four separate singles ahead of the film’s release: “Lazy Susan” by 21 Savage and Rich Brian,[89] “Every Summertime” by Niki, “Run It” by DJ Snake, Rick Ross, and Rich Brian and “In the Dark” by Swae Lee
- A soundtrack album containing these songs was released on September 3, in addition to songs by JJ Lin, Saweetie, Anderson .Paak, and other artists
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings had its world premiere at the El Capitan Theatre and TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles on August 16, 2021
- It was screened at CinemaCon on August 25
- The film began releasing in international markets on September 1, with it releasing in 66% of its markets by the end of its first weekend
- In Australia, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released on September 2, with a release in New South Wales, Victoria, and Australian Capital Territory on September 16 because of the countries COVID-19-related lockdown
- It was released in the United States on September 3, in over 4,200 theaters, with 400 IMAX, over 850 in premium large format, 1,500 3D, and 275 in specialty D-Box, 4DX, and ScreenX
- The film will have a 45-day exclusive theatrical release, rather than being released simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access like Black Widow
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings earned $8.8 million from its Thursday night previews
- This was the second highest preview gross in the COVID-19 era, behind Black Widow ($13.2 million)
- According to Boxoffice Pro, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is projected to gross around $35 to $55 million over its 3 day opening weekend in the United States and Canada
- With a total domestic gross of $160 to $165 million
- Deadline Hollywood projects the film to gross around $45–50 million domestically over its four-day Labor Day opening weekend
- This would be a record for the weekend
- Theater owners project a higher weekend gross
- The site also projected the film would be the top film at the box office for at least three weeks
- Variety stated some industry tracking services were projecting a $60 million opening weekend
- On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92%
- Based on 224 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10
- The website’s critical consensus reads, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings isn’t entirely free of Marvel’s familiar formula, but this exciting origin story expands the MCU in more ways than one”
- On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100
- Based on 48 critics
- Indicating “generally favorable reviews”
- Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale
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