\u00ab\u00a0Dear Evan Hansen\u00a0\u00bb may have been a hit on Broadway, but the filmed adaptation of the Tony-winning show is off to a slow start at the box office in its first weekend in theaters.<\/b>
\n\u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d may have been a hit on Broadway, but the filmed adaptation of the Tony-winning show is off to a slow start at the box office in its first weekend in theaters. The Universal musical that\u2019s playing exclusively in theaters grossed an estimated $7.5 million from 3,364 locations, according to studio estimates on Sunday. First place again went to Disney and Marvel\u2019s \u201cShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,\u201d which added $13.3 million in ticket sales in North America, bringing its domestic total to $196.5 million. The superhero pic has topped the charts for four consecutive weekends and this weekend surpassed \u201cBlack Widow\u201d to become the highest domestic earner of the pandemic. With little in the way of high-profile competition this weekend, \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u2019s\u201d $7.3 million was enough to land it in second place. While critics were less than impressed, audiences that did turn out this weekend were fans and gave it an A- CinemaScore. Women made up an estimated 62% of the audience according to exit polls. Directed by Stephen Chbosky and written by Steven Levenson, \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d is about a high school student with social anxiety disorder. \u201cWe are tremendously proud of \u2018Dear Evan Hansen\u2019 and everything about it,\u201d said Universal\u2019s head of distribution Jim Orr. \u201cWith an exceptional film and great audience scores, we think that\u2019ll lead to a better than normal run at the domestic box office.\u201d Despite its prestigious pedigree and star-studded cast including Julianne Moore and Amy Adams, \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d has become somewhat of a punching bag on social media since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. At the heart of the jokes is the fact that the film has a 27-year-old Ben Platt, who originated the role, playing a teenager. \u201cMusicals have always had mixed results at the box office,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. \u201cIt\u2019s really difficult to pin down and project what a musical might earn on opening weekend, especially in this marketplace.\u201d Earlier this year, the adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda\u2019s \u201cIn the Heights\u201d underwhelmed at the box office despite stellar reviews \u2014 but it was also streaming on HBO Max simultaneously.<\/p>\n