We all knew it was coming. As predicted yesterday, Marvel’s latest installment into its cinematic universe, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings can now call itself North America's highest-grossing film of 2021. Not surprisingly, the only movie standing on its way was another Marvel title, Black Widow – which has given Disney and Scarlett Johansson a bit of a headache.

This past Friday, the action/adventure movie starring Simu Liu grossed over $3 million dollars across 3,952 theaters, which put him ahead of Black Widow’s all-time domestic gross of $183.5 million. With $186,7 million, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now the highest 2021 film in North America. The movie is expected to reach the $200 million mark by the end of this weekend.

Runner-up to this weekend’s box office results is expected to be Dear Even Hansen, which opened yesterday and made over $ 3.2 million. The musical is projected to make up to $7.3 million over the weekend. Adapted from a Tony-winning Broadway musical, the movie follows a young high-schooler (Ben Platt) who struggles to overcome a tragedy.

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Image via Universal Pictures

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After holding a strong second place in the last few weeks, Ryan Reynolds’ action-comedy Free Guy is expected to drop to third place, with a projected $4 million gross to add to its bulging $111 million all-time domestic gross. Free Guy’s drop is expected to push down Candyman and Cry Macho to fourth and fifth place, respectively. The slasher horror sequel is expected to snag $2.4 million, which will put its domestic earnings up to almost $57 million, and the latest Clint Eastwood film continues to show the cinema legend has still got it: it’s expected to make another $2 million and boost its all-time domestic gross to $8 million.

In order to make it to the top globally, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has to surpass five other titles, including F9: The Fast Saga, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Chinese comedy Hi, Mom. However, the movie has serious chances of making it to the top internationally, as it still has over a month’s worth of run in theaters before it makes it to Disney+ on November 12. This is also the result of Disney’s decision to give Shang-Chi a 45-day window of exclusivity on theaters, as opposed to a hybrid release they went for with Black Widow (a model that other streamers such as HBO Max also adopted).

KEEP READING: 'Shang-Chi' to Hit Disney+ in November