It wasn’t long ago that Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek was discarding Shang-Chi as an “interesting experiment”. That followed with lead actor Simu Liu actually speaking out against Chapek, while simultaneously Scarlett Johansson was suing Disney. It’s been an odd few months for Chapek, who likely watched Bob Iger never be publicly rebuked in the same way. Now, with Shang-Chi notching an impressive second weekend, it is Marvel lead Kevin Feige who stands to gain the most.
#ShangChi has earned $35.7M in the film’s second weekend at the domestic box office.
The film has earned $257.6M overall at the worldwide box office so far. pic.twitter.com/SaYE1zqAee
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 12, 2021
You would think that a Marvel movie dropping only 53% in it second weekend would be nothing but good for Disney in the current climate. Yet the dynamic its $145 million gross domestic is creating is fascinating to watch. Not only is the movie undermining the wisdom of Bob Chapek, but it is also simultaneously undermining Scarlett Johansson’s strength as a headlining female actress. After all, if a movie with little marketing, not strongly supported by its own distributor, and starring an essentially unknown actor… can compete with Black Widow for success… then what is there for Scarlett Johansson to hang her hat on?
Perhaps even more strangely, the success of Shang-Chi is resulting in Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige having more power over The Walt Disney Company at large. “Strangely?” you ask. Surely I must have mistyped that given its obvious Marvel is Disney’s biggest arrow in their quiver.
The strange part isn’t that Shang-Chi makes Kevin Feige a formidable opponent to Chapek, given one succeeded and one failed to foresee that success. The strange thing is the ripple effects from all of this. Suddenly, the chances that the Russo Brothers might exit working with Disney over Johansson’s lawsuit is a much bigger deal (and it was already big). Clearly, Feige neither likes the lawsuit situation, the way Johansson was treated, nor the idea he might lose the Russo Brothers over it. That again puts Feige in a closed-lip frustration with Disney top brass.
Then, a rumor we’re working to confirm is that the potential loss of the Russo Brothers has had a significant impact on contract negotiations with Kathleen Kennedy at Lucasfilm. Did Disney make the decision to renew her contract in an attempt to keep the Russo Brothers on board as much as possible? Clearly there’s more reason for keeping Kathleen Kennedy, although little of it has to do with Lucasfim’s success or theatrical profits (even perhaps to the point of jettisoning those things), but not starting another fight with a prominent Hollywood woman is a heck of a reason.
Finally, what does Disney do with Simu Liu? He had the audacity to spar verbally with CEO Bob Chapek. Will Disney bring him back for additional contracts? If so, Chapek will be taking the last hit without retort.