09.07.20 - After many months of delays due to the pandemic and Hollywood being on complete lockdown, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet finally landed in US theaters over the weekend, cashing in more than $20 million in ticket sales.
The spy thriller, directed by the visionary behind Inception and distributed by Warner Brothers, brought in almost $150 million globally, the company reported, garnering almost $74 million in foreign markets over the weekend, this includes $30 million from China.
The domestic debut comes one week after Tenet opened internationally and marks the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film in the US since the pandemic began.
Tenet would have been expected to gross $35-$55 million on opening weekend in pre-COVID times. The $20 million is reflective of a 50% cap on attendance at theaters across the country and that only 65% of cinemas have reopened to the public. Los Angeles and New York City, the largest theater markets in the country have yet to reopen their movie theaters.
Tenet is just getting started in North America and more theaters are expected to open in the coming weeks and months as people begin to feel more comfortable in going to communal spaces. Paul Dergabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore, said “In this pandemically-challenged marketplace this is indeed all about the marathon not the sprint.”
Source: Financial Times
