Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ Reportedly Keeping Theatres-Only Release After Box Office Performance of ‘Shang-Chi’

With various different films opting to become available at home the same day it releases in theaters, Marvel’s upcoming film Eternals will remain a theaters-only release following the box office success of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings. 

Screen Rant cited a report from former The Hollywood Reporter editor Matthew Belloni, who said that after Disney CEO Bob Chapek saw the success of Destin Daniel Cretton’s film, it proved to him that a theatrical release-only for other Marvel titles could be successful as well.

“After Disney CEO Bob Chapek basically dared Shang-Chi to perform in theaters over Labor Day weekend, and it did $94 million domestically, he couldn’t possibly put Eternals on Disney+ day-and-date, right? I’m told Chapek and distribution chief Kareem Daniels have made their decision on the November movie’s fate, and it will indeed receive an exclusive theatrical run,” Belloni reports.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings hauled in $75.5 million opening weekend, which is impressive because Labor Day is often a harder time for movies to rake in big numbers at the box office. This is also while the company still has major films like Spider-Man: No Way Home on its roster slated to come out at the end of this year.

Bar any major setbacks, Eternals is set to hit theaters on Nov. 2, 2021.