WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey admits Tenet's theatrical release was not a success. Originally scheduled to come out in July, Tenet's release date was delayed multiple times due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. After debuting internationally in late August, Tenet hit U.S. theaters in early September, becoming the biggest new theatrical release since March. However, many questioned the logistics of Tenet's release. At the time, theaters in key U.S. markets like New York and Los Angeles were still closed, and doctors were advising people to not go to the multiplex.
While Tenet did score the highest box office opening weekend since the pandemic began, its commercial performance was underwhelming. Even by the "new normal" standards, Tenet struggled, and it's brought in only $50.6 million domestically as of this writing. Since Tenet cost $200 million to produce and needed to gross at least $500 million just to break even (a figure it will not be able to reach), it's justifiable to wonder if it was worth moving forward with Tenet's release this year. From Stankey's perspective, it wasn't a runaway success.
On an investor call (hat tip Deadline), Stankey discussed Tenet's release and his response to the box office numbers:
"I can’t tell you that we walked away from the Tenet experience saying it was a home run... I’m happy we did it. I think the team was incredibly creative. I think we learned a few things about what we can do. I think if theaters were open nation-wide, if California and New York were open, we’d have some latitude… So maybe as we get to a place where there is a little more consistent footprint we can do some more.”
In the wake of Tenet's box office performance, a number of tentpoles that were scheduled for the fall and winter, like Black Widow and No Time to Die, were delayed into 2021. Studios saw that it wasn't feasible to release a massive investment only in theaters at this time. Interestingly, WB currently has Wonder Woman 1984 slated for Christmas Day, but there's no guarantee it keeps that date. Stankey's comments indicate the studio is going to keep a close eye on how things progress before making a decision on Wonder Woman 1984's release, meaning it could be delayed again. While New York is allowing movie theaters to reopen now, that may not be enough to encourage WB to push forward with something like Wonder Woman 1984, especially with new coronavirus cases on the rise again. Theaters will still have limited capacity under health & safety protocols, impacting how much movies can gross.
As for Tenet, it should find a great deal of success when it hits home media platforms. A number of people who skipped seeing it in theaters will likely pay to watch Tenet on digital or Blu-ray. That'll help lessen the blow of the poor ticket sales, but whatever the final bottom line is will definitely be a far cry from what Tenet would have made under normal circumstances. In retrospect, WB clearly would have been better served either postponing Tenet to 2021 or exploring an alternative method of distribution to get the movie to more people safely. Instead, they're going to take a loss on it - but it seems they've learned valuable lessons from the experience.
Source: Deadline