‘Shang-Chi’ blasts Labor Day records with $71.4M debut

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — On what’s traditionally one of the sleepiest weekends at the movies, the Marvel film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” smashed the record for Labor Day openings with an estimated $71.4 million in ticket sales. That gives a box office reeling from the recent coronavirus surge a huge lift heading into the fall season. The Friday-to-Sunday gross for Marvel’s first film led by an Asian superhero ranks as one of the best debuts of the pandemic. It trails only the previous Marvel film, “Black Widow” with $80.3 million in July. The Walt Disney Co. is releasing “Shang-Chi” only in theaters for an exclusive 45-day run.