It's that time again where we finally have a piece of news that isn't about something getting delayed by the Covid-19 crisis. While everything else is slowly starting to reopen, studios are developing and looking into whatever they can make when things get back to normal again. Yep, these stories will keep happening as the world tries to return to normal. This time, it's about Christopher Nolan's Tenet. That's right, it's finally out in theaters in some places! It's a real movie that's making money!
Over the Labor Day weekend, Tenet is set to gross over 20 million dollars at the 2,810 theaters in America that are open right now. Not the biggest Labor Day weekend release, but a fair hit in these troubling times. Due to theaters in major media markets like New York or Los Angeles being closed and the film not doing drive-ins in cities where indoor theaters aren't open, we didn't expect huge record breaking numbers. In any other time, maybe. What the numbers did show is encouraging to exhibitors and to studios.
Internationally, the film fared even better at the box office. Tenet grossed over 78 million dollars in places like China and Russia. Last week, the film grossed a respectable 53.6 million dollars in it's international debut. Given the numbers and mixed to positive reviews, the film is holding over and expanding well. Nolan's films tend to do well in China.
All this to say that we imagine Tenet will do well over the weeks and months to come. For months now, I have been covering this movie. I can assure that Warner Brothers and Chris Nolan will be fine. Box office numbers are just numbers. They would have been fine too if this got a streaming or a bigger drive-in release as well.
You might have noticed that we don't have a review for this movie because no theaters near us are open to screen it in accordance with the guidelines put out by the CDC and enforced by the State of Michigan. Hopefully, we will get to see this movie in the safest way possible. We don't know when that will be.
Safety matters. I understand and respect that Nolan wants to save theaters. I love seeing movies in a theater. I desperately miss going out with my friends and family to go see a new movie. No one wants anyone to lose their business or jobs especially during this crisis. I also don't want people to risk their lives and get sick during a pandemic that we have spectacularly failed to contain. I'd like to keep my friends and family alive and healthy so that we can keep going to see movies. The human cost of this crisis is very real and dangerous. We have all been impacted by it, losing jobs, family, or friends. That outweighs billion dollar companies profit margins or auteur directors needs to be seen on the big screen. Please wear a mask, wash your hands, and let’s do whatever we can to make sure that we get out of this crisis and go back to the movies.
-Liam S. O'Connor