‘Shang-Chi’ leads N. America box office for fourth week

That estimated figure, for the Friday-through-Sunday period, kept the film — which stars Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu as a former assassin in the shadow of an evil father (Hong Kong legend Tony Leung) — well ahead of its closest rival, newcomer “Dear Evan Hansen.”

The musical teen drama starring Ben Platt, distributed by Universal Pictures, was set to take $7.5 million, knocking 20th Century’s sci-fi comedy “Free Guy” to third with $4.1 million. It stars Ryan Reynolds as an everyman bank teller who discovers he’s actually a non-player character in a huge video game.

Fourth went to Universal’s slasher film “Candyman,” a reimagining of the 1992 classic, which took in $2.5 million.

That nudged it just past “Cry Macho,” the gritty Warner Brothers drama by Clint Eastwood, who directs and stars as a retired rodeo rider helping a teenager and his fighting rooster leave Mexico. It earned $2.1 million.

Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” leapfrogged over another horror movie, “Malignant,” to take the sixth spot with $1.7.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Malignant” ($1.5 million)

“Copshop” ($1.3 million)

“Paw Patrol: The Movie” ($1.1 million)

“The Eyes of Tammy Faye ($620,000) /AFP