‘Shang-Chi’ breaks Labor Day weekend record at the box office, plus Time’s Up in trouble

The newest Marvel movie “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” brought in a whopping $94 million over the long Labor Day weekend. That’s a record for that particular weekend, which is usually a dead zone for movies. The film is now on track to be one of the biggest grossers since the pandemic began.

“Shang-Chi” opened exclusively in theaters, unlike the previous Marvel film “Black Widow,” which was also available to stream at home on Disney+ for an extra charge when it debuted.

That theatrical exclusivity may have been some of the reason for the box office boost. It’s also the first Marvel movie to feature a predominantly Asian cast, and fans were clearly excited to see the film and not held back in large numbers by the Delta variant.

Meanwhile there’s trouble at Time’s Up. Formed in the wake of the #MeToo movement, Time’s Up was born out of great hope in a post-Harvey Weinstein world. The organization brought together many high-profile Hollywood women, including Shonda Rhimes and Reese Witherspoon, to fight workplace gender discrimination.

But the nonprofit has been plagued with problems since the beginning. Reports from early meetings said the group was cliquey and too close to powerful organizations like talent agency CAA.

In August, victims and survivors wrote an open letter to Time’s Up, saying that the organization had “abandoned the very people it was supposed to champion.”

Then, Time’s Up CEO Tina Tchen resigned after it was revealed that she had supported former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in his sexual harassment investigation. A few weeks later, the entire board of Time’s Up resigned.

It’s unclear where the organization goes from here, but should be noted that Time’s Up is separate from the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which continues to provide legal support to people subject to sex discrimination or harassment the workplace.