If you seek evidence that theaters are well on the way to recovery, look no further than Disney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Free Guy.” They continue to thrive, while Warner Bros.’ “Dune” opened well in its initial foreign territories.If you suspect that exhibition issues abound, this weekend saw three new adult-oriented releases, led by Clint Eastwood’s “Cry Macho,” all of which had weak or worse domestic debuts.“Shang-Chi” was a dominant #1 in its third weekend and broke a record, however obscure: At just under $22 million, it is the best-ever gross for the third weekend in September.
That record is a nice side effect of being a trailblazer: Before “Shang-Chi,” it was all but unheard of for a film with that much potential to open early in the month.The Simu Liu actioner is also ahead of the third weekends for Marvel titles
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