Marvel’s first superhero movie with an Asian lead character, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, generated $90m in US ticket sales over the holiday weekend, making it the most successful Labor Day release on record.

The popularity of the movie was a milestone for Asian-American representation on the big screen, with ticket sales estimates from ComScore showing Shang-Chi easily surpassing previous Labor Day record-holder Halloween, which generated $30.6m over the same Friday to Monday period.

With $71.4m of ticket sales between Friday and Sunday, Shang-Chi was also the second-highest earning film to open in the US during the pandemic after Black Widow, another Marvel superhero. It was the biggest pandemic release in the UK, where it generated ￡5.76m over the same period.