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Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” launched internationally this weekend, generating a surprisingly robust $53 million debut despite the ongoing pandemic.
The sci-fi epic, long pegged as the film that would restart movie going after
prolonged cinema closures, had the strongest start in the United Kingdom,
where it made $7.1 million. “Tenet” launched in 41 international markets this
weekend, including France ($6.7 million), Korea ($5.1 million) and Germany
($4.2 million). Next weekend, the Warner Bros. film will touch down in the
U.S., Russia and China. “We are off to a fantastic start internationally and
couldn’t be more pleased,” said Toby Emmerich, Warner Bros. Pictures Group
chairman. “Christopher Nolan has once again delivered an event-worthy motion
picture that demands to be seen on the big screen, and we are thrilled that
audiences across the globe are getting the opportunity to see ‘Tenet.'”
“Tenet,” a twisty, time-bending thriller starring John David Washington and
Robert Pattinson, was originally supposed to debut in July. However, its
release was postponed numerous times after coronavirus started to spread
across the globe. Given the better-than-expected opening weekend ticket sales,
“Tenet” seems to be a promising sign for the viability of the movie theater
business during the global health crisis. “Tenet” cost $200 million to
produce, and many millions more to market. Even in a normal climate, that
price tag would have made it more challenging to get out of the red. But
industry analysts are encouraged by how quickly China, the world’s
second-biggest movie going market, has rebounded after its theaters were able
to reopen. Already, the box office in the Middle Kingdom has already seen
massive ticket sales from war film “The Eight Hundred” and romantic comedy
“Love You Forever.”
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As Emmerich notes, cinema operators have taken extreme measures to ensure that
audiences feel safe going back to the movies. Major chains such as AMC and
Regal are requiring customers to wear face masks, instituting socially
distanced seating and pushing new cleaning procedures. “Thank you to our
exhibition partners for their tireless efforts in reopening their cinemas in a
safe and socially-distanced way,” Emmerich said. “Given the unprecedented
circumstances of this global release we know we’re running a marathon, not a
sprint, and look forward to long play-ability for this film globally for many
weeks to come.” Even with capacity restrictions in theaters, Warner Bros.
noted that “Tenet” notched a number of box office milestones for Nolan.
“Tenet” landed the biggest debut of the director’s career in nine smaller
markets, including Holland, Ukraine and Hungary. In Saudi Arabia, the
film secured the largest opening for a Hollywood film, earning $1.47 million
from 131 venues.
Unsurprisingly, considering Nolan’s penchant for 70mm, audiences shelled out
to see “Tenet” in the best quality possible. Imax screens and other premium
formats accounted for over a quarter of ticket sales in some markets, grossing
$5 million from Imax alone. “People have been very anxious to get back to the
movies,” said Imax Entertainment president Megan Colligan. “These results
speak to that.” Colligan pointed out that, in terms of Imax tickets, “Tenet”
enjoyed stronger sales during the pandemic than “Dunkirk” and “Interstellar” —
two recent Nolan films — did during normal times over the same period. “It’s
kind of mind blowing,” Colligan said. She attributes that metric to the
increased amount of free time people have now, combined with pent-up demand to
return to the movies. “There’s a massive reduction in the amount of things
we’re doing, so you have much more flexibility about when you can go to a
movie.”
Christopher Nolan Director's Collection