Let’s be real. This past weekend was about sports. The return of the NFL season and its endless storylines and drama owned most people’s attention.

Nevertheless, we do have a late-summer success story happening in the form of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

What a cool thing it is to have Tony Lueng and Michelle Yeoh as sudden big screen movie stars! Delightful. Shang-Chi took the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office again with an added $35.8 million in sales. So far, the flick has grossed $146 million in the U.S. and $258 million worldwide in 10 days, which is really good.

Sure, it’s a Marvel film and Marvel films always win, but it’s also a film with a mostly Asian cast and not a lot of big names, which is equally as cool. I count Shang-Chi as a win. Tony Lueng and Michelle Yeoh are treasures and that’s that!

Also at the Box

The dreaded Free Guy took the No. 2 spot at the box office over its fifth weekend of release. It had another $5.8 million in sales, bringing the high concept flick’s 31-day sales total to just under $278 million worldwide. I’d say that, in the COVID-19 era, those earnings are pretty substantial. Good for Ryan Reynolds, an actor who certainly took a lot of reps before he started to click with broad audiences.

Warner Bros.’ very promising Malignant took the No. 3 spot at the domestic box office, with a stellar $5.6 million in sales. Now let’s talk about this one.

This is where director James Wan says, “Hey, I’m actually the real deal, like John Carpenter or David Cronenberg, I swear.”

Wan’s IMDb page will blow your mind. This is a guy who has done a huge number of things that have been extremely successful, yet isn’t a household name.

While his new film, Malignant, might not graduate him to household status, it looks like another horror classic. The flick didn’t make much, but reviews and word-of-mouth are strong. Don’t be surprised if this one has legs.

The latest Candyman film continued to roll, taking the No. 4 spot in the U.S. last weekend with another $4.8 million in sales. So far, the flick has made just about $60 million worldwide in 17 days. I think this one will break the $100 million mark in theaters and make a whole lot more than that come streaming time. Chalk this one up as another success for producer Jordan Peele.

Disney’s big new adventure flick, Jungle Cruise, which I actually am dying to see, held strong, taking the No. 5 spot at the box office. It gained another $2.5 million in sales, bringing the flick’s seven-week worldwide total to just under $200 million.

Here’s the thing about this one: It’ll be a valuable property for Disney for many, many years. I could see this one growing to being considered a cult classic children’s movie eventually.

Also of note, Paul Schrader’s much anticipated follow up to First Reformed, the Martin Scorsese-produced The Card Counter, opened on just 580 screens worldwide. But it had the second highest per-screen average after Shang-Chi, bringing in a solid $1.1 million over its first weekend of release. Expect this one to hang around for a while. I’m extremely excited to see it.

If you’re not yet a Schrader loyalist, I suggest you take a look at his filmography. He’s capable of greatness, and I think this one might be on that spectrum.

New This Week

Studios feel weird this time of year. They’re hesitant. A huge part of the population is starting school and another is starting to spend all their time away from work watching football games. That being said, the releases might be a little weird for a few weeks.

Eventually, not long from now, we will enter the amazing Oscar bait season, in which a mix of horror film and prestige films color the screens. I can’t wait.

For now, this weekend will see the wide release of thriller Copshop and a limited release of Clint Eastwood’s much-anticipated new film, Cry Macho, which intrigues me. It will either be so bad that it’s good or just simply good. That’s my prediction.

I say go see it when it comes to town and, honestly, just bask in the Eastwood of it all. We’re not gonna have him much longer, and he has been a special presence in the history of American cinema. Go get your Eastwood on, OK? Do it.