Two weeks ago, we found out how the international opening of Tenet may have reawakened cinemas. The film was aimed to renew life into cinemas even though we are still facing a worldwide pandemic. It was the hope that the film would offer some form of normalcy. Every studio had their eyes on the film’s Box Office to know if they can stick to their remaining 2020 releases. At the time, it did make a respectable $53 million in 40 markets excluding China. We have been waiting for some kind of sign of how the U.S. market may perform. The country is still hit the hardest by the pandemic, so it was a big question mark as cinemas tried to reopen.
According to Forbes, the five-day Labor Day weekend saw the film debut with $20.2 million. This puts Christopher Nolan‘s new sci-fi epic at the lower end of expectations. Still, there is hope that it would increase at a slower pace. As such, all eyes are on how it held in its second week. This could potentially tease if this film will see a rise in Box Office numbers alongside the increase in opening cinemas. We could see a change in the classic frontloaded model. As Forbes points out, The New Mutants drop by 58% after its opening may indicate that the new normal isn’t quite what we expected.
Internationally, Tenet opened to an underwhelming $30 million. Ironically, most of Nolan‘s films usually performed around $50 million in that market, so it may perform similarly to those films even with the current pandemic. Only Interstellar broke the $100 million mark when it released back in 2014. The film’s overall reception is also at a B CinemaScore, so it makes people to question if the danger of visiting a cinema is worth the risk. It may take some massive audience-pleaser to change people’s minds. Perhaps October releases Wonder Woman 1984 or Death on the Nile may persuade audiences. Still, it is up to the people to prioritize their own health if it is worth it. VOD and Disney’s Premium Access strategy might still be the best and safest option for most.
Source: Forbes
