“Shang Chi” did all it could to lift week 37, but without much help. The end result was a drop of 54% in the overall box office when compared with the same week in 2019. This produced a fall of 36 percentage points from the comp we reported last week. As dramatic as that is for the current week, the four-week trailing run rate is still 66% for 2021 when compared with those same 4 weeks in 2019. The speed of recovery slowed down to 1.57 percentage points per week, which adds four weeks to our projection for the date when the exhibition will be able to earn 75% of its 2019 results. At this rate, this will be achieved on 10/29.
This deceleration will continue through the rest of September, to close out the third quarter. The good news is that Q4 should begin with a big shot in the arm, with the openings of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Addams Family 2” on 10/1.