Tenet crossed the $300 million mark at the global box office this weekend, but only $45 million of that total comes from the U.S. The film faced a tumultuous road to screens, being delayed multiple times before finally hitting multiplexes at the beginning of September. While the film has fared well internationally, Tenet's domestic box office take has been less than stellar. The U.S. is the largest box office market in the world, but currently, many theaters around the country are still shut down or have very limited capacity due to pandemic related restrictions.
At one point, the Christopher Nolan film was expected to be the movie to save the box office. The John David Washington-starrer certainly could have if theaters had been able to reopen fully. However, the coronavirus has prohibited movie theaters packing their seats. Additionally, theater goers are wary of attending screenings in the midst of a pandemic with no end in sight. All of this has certainly hindered the box office take for Tenet, which was quite an expensive movie to make.
As reported by Deadline, this weekend Tenet has crossed the $300 million mark globally. Most of that gross has come from international markets, with the film performing quite well in China. However, the film's $45 million take in the U.S. is quite disappointing, to put it mildly. The news comes as Cineworld (who operate Regal Cinemas in the U.S.) announces they are considering an indefinite closure for many of theaters in both the U.K. and U.S.
Tenet reportedly needs to make $500 million to break even, and while the film inches ever closer, it is still unknown if it will actually reach that total. Many studios, going off of Tenet's box office performance, don't think their films will fare well at the box office. Disney has cleared their 2020 calendar of all but one film, Soul, pushing back all of their other major releases into 2021. Even No Time to Die was pushed back to April 2021 after holding on to its November release date for as long as possible.
Once thought to be the savior of cinema, Tenet's role has now reversed somewhat. It has become an indicator of the uncertainty surrounding the industry, a warning that even the most anticipated films aren't necessarily enough to reignite the box office. Warner Bros. is still holding out hope with two of their major releases, with Dune and Wonder Woman: 1984 still scheduled to hit theaters in December. However, anything could happen between then and now. While Tenet is void of any blockbuster sized competition and could very well continue accumulating money until December, it is still too early to tell just how its box office performance will play out. What is clear is that the entire movie industry remains in flux, reacting daily to changes in these unprecedented times.
Source: Deadline