By Rebecca Rubin

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “Dear Evan Hansen,” the Universal Pictures adaptation of the smash Broadway musical, didn’t strike a chord with moviegoers.

Negative reviews and concerns about COVID-19 hampered the movie’s success. In its first weekend, it earned a paltry $7.5million from 3365 North American theatres. Experts predicted that the musical movie would gross at least $10,000,000 between Friday and Sunday.

The film will not make a loss in theatres even though it is unlikely that the film will turn a profit. Producing “Dear Evan Hansen,” which cost $28 million, was a relatively low budget for musicals. Universal is now in much better shape than its previous movie musical “Cats”, which was released at $6.5 million and lost almost all its $100 million budget.

The reaction to Dear Evan Hansen has not been as positive as the glowing receptions that greeted its 2016 stage adaptation, which earned six Tony Awards and established Ben Platt in the spotlight. The struggle to make musicals that are commercially successful on the big-screen is evident in this film. Platt returned to his character as Evan Hansen (an anxious high school student caught up in a lie that spirals beyond control). Many were critical of the casting decision. Platt looks older than he is and doesn’t seem like a teenager.

One positive is that the audience, or at least those who purchased tickets on opening weekend seemed to enjoy “Dear Evan Hansen”, more than critics. The movie received an “A” CinemaScore rating from moviegoers. This is far better than the 33% Rotten Tomatoes gave it. Platt said that 53% of the patrons were under 25 and 62% were women.

“Dear Evan Hansen” was not a huge success, but “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, the reigning box-office champion, managed to stay at the top of the domestic charts even after its fourth weekend. This Disney/Marvel superhero film brought its domestic total to $196.5 million. It is now a historic record.

The highest-grossing movie in the year, “Shang-Chi”, has surpassed “Black Widow,” a Marvel Cinematic Universe film that grossed $183 million. The Scarlett Johansson-led movie “Black Widow”, unlike “Shang-Chi”, wasn’t only available in theatres. At least $125million has been generated by the movie’s simultaneous premiere on Disney Plus, which costs a premium $30 fee. Johansson, who sued Disney several weeks before the film’s release on Disney Plus (for a premium $30 fee), claimed that Disney’s hybrid release had depressed ticket sales and reduced Johansson’s compensation.