'Tenet' Has $20-Million Opening Weekend
by EG
Tenet, the first big-budget movie to open in theaters since the pandemic began, pulled in $20 million over the Labor Day weekend. No one's really sure whether that's a good number or not. But in a pre-pandemic world, that level of ticket sales would be very bad news for a movie that cost as much to make as Tenet did. Read on for details.
In a key moment for the ravaged box office, Christopher Nolan's Tenet launched domestically with $20.2 million over the long Labor Day weekend as U.S. cinemas reopened in earnest after being shut for nearly six months due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The tally includes previews both in the U.S. and Canada.
Internationally, the espionage epic earned another $78.3 million as it expanded into a raft of additional markets for an early global total of $146.2 million. In China, it grossed $30 million to come in No. 2 behind local Chinese war epic The Eight Hundred.
Warners believes that Tenet will have a longer run in theaters than is usually the case, versus boasting a mega-opening weekend. Most analysts agree, saying the film has a shot at earning $500 million worldwide. If it doesn't, it will likely lose money.
Nolan's film is the first Hollywood tentpole to brave debuting on the big screen in the COVID-19 era. Releasing a big-budget title at the present moment is a huge gamble for Warner Bros., considering Tenet's $200 million production budget before marketing. Among other challenges, Los Angeles and New York City — the country's two largest moviegoing markets — are still off limits.
Last week, just as Tenet prepared to open in the U.S., the list of states fully closed in terms of movie theaters narrowed to three (New York, North Carolina and New Mexico) as New Jersey and Maryland opened.
In pre-pandemic times, a domestic start of $20.2 million would have been a major source of anxiety (it's Nolan's lowest since The Prestige in 2006). But considering current circumstances — including limited capacity — Tenet was always expected to come in well below Nolan's more recent films. And it certainly scored the top gross domestically of any film that's rolled out since theaters reopened.
Tenet, starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh, received a B CinemaScore.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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