'Shang-Chi' stays on top of the box office, 'Dear Evan Hansen' falls flat

LOS ANGELES, Sept 26 (Variety.com) – Dear Evan Hansen, the Universal Pictures adaptation of the smash Broadway musical, didn’t strike a chord with moviegoers and Shang-Chi maintained its No. 1 spot at the box office.

Marred by negative reviews and COVID-19 concerns, the film fell short of expectations and collected a muted $7.5 million from 3,365 North American theatres in its debut. Industry experts predicted the movie musical would make at least $10 million between Friday and Sunday.

Even though the film seems unlikely to turn a profit in theatres, the losses won’t be catastrophic. Dear Evan Hansen cost $28 million to produce, a modest budget for a musical.

That puts Universal in a much better position compared to its last movie musical, Cats, which opened to $6.5 million in late 2019 and ultimately lost the studio nearly all of its $100 million budget.

The critical response to Dear Evan Hansen has been vastly different than the glowing reactions that greeted the 2016 stage version, which netted six Tony Awards and cemented Ben Platt as a star.

It underscores the struggle to bring even commercially popular musicals to the big screen. Platt reprised his role as Evan Hansen, an anxious high school student who finds himself tangled in a lie that spirals out of control.

Many criticized the casting choice because Platt is 27 years old and doesn’t look like a teenager.