How Much Shang-Chi Cost To Make (& How Much BO To Be A Success)

Here’s how much Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings cost to make, and what it needs to earn to be considered a box office success. After being delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shang-Chi is finally poised for release, continuing Marvel’s Phase 4. There’s been much excitement surrounding the film’s premiere, as the movie introduces a new hero to the MCU, boasts impressive action sequences, and consists of a predominately Asian cast. Fortunately, early Shang-Chi reviews have been very positive, with praise being given to the emotional origin story, set pieces, and other aspects.

Marvel has long dominated the pop culture landscape with an unprecedented streak of hit films, and at least from a critical perspective, Shang-Chi is another winner for the studio. Over the years, Marvel has also become synonymous with box office success, turning even the most obscure comic book titles into household names. However, with the pandemic still a concern, studios haven’t been able to dependently rely on box office grosses like they did in the past. This raises questions about Shang-Chi’s commercial prospects, and the baseline for success usually comes down to how much the movie cost to make.

There have been no reports listing Shang-Chi’s production budget, but a ballpark figure can be narrowed down by looking at previous comparable Marvel movies. For example, Captain Marvel’s budget was in the $152-175 million range, Doctor Strange cost between $165-236 million, and Black Widow had a $200 million production budget. Something in the neighborhood of $150+ million is probably a fair figure for Shang-Chi, especially since it’s the first movie for a new character in the MCU.

UPDATE: Shang-Chi’s reported budget is $150 million. The rest of the original article follows.

The general rule of thumb stipulates a movie must earn twice its production budget in order to break even. This means the mark Shang-Chi would have to hit is at least $300 million worldwide. It will be interesting to see how it performs during its theatrical run, which is said to be a shorter window of 45 days. Due to the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant and new cases rising across the country, audiences feel less confident about going to the movie theater. That could put a damper on Shang-Chi’s box office hopes, but there have been reasons for optimism. Another Disney release, Free Guy, has exceeded box office expectations and proven to be a draw as a theatrical-exclusive. F9 crossed the $700 million worldwide mark, proving there’s still interest in watching tentpole franchises on the big screen. Especially with Shang-Chi’s positive word-of-mouth, there’s a chance it finds success in the early fall.

Because Shang-Chi is only playing in theaters, Disney doesn’t have the extra revenue stream of Disney+ Premier Access to fall back on. That could have some impact on Shang-Chi’s bottom line. While Black Widow’s Premier Access release was controversial for many reasons, Disney has made over $125 million from streaming sales, pushing the movie’s total earnings to around the $500 million mark. Some viewers have claimed they’ll skip Shang-Chi in theaters and wait for it to come out on streaming because they don’t want to risk catching COVID. Still, this summer has illustrated there are moviegoers who will make the trek to the multiplex, and the latest Marvel movie is a pretty safe bet to post solid numbers. The pandemic has caused people to reevaluate how a movie’s success is determined, but considering the circumstances, Shang-Chi should go down as a hit.

About The Author

Chris Agar
(5540 Articles Published)

Chris Agar is a news editor for Screen Rant, also writing features and movie reviews for the site as one of Screen Rant’s Rotten Tomatoes approved critics. He is a graduate of Wesley College’s Bachelor of Media Arts and Master of Sport Leadership programs. In 2013, Chris was hired to write weekly box office prediction posts in conjunction with the Screen Rant Underground podcast’s Box Office Battle game and his role expanded over the next few years. In addition to covering the latest news and hottest movie topics daily, Chris has attended numerous media events for Screen Rant, including San Diego Comic-Con, delivering content his readers care about. He credits Star Wars and Toy Story with launching a lifelong fascination with movies that led to his career, and now he has a wide range of cinematic tastes, enjoying the latest Hollywood blockbusters, Oscar contenders, and everything in between. Chris’ favorite film genres include sci-fi/fantasy, crime, action, and drama.

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