Tenet finally arrived in theaters this weekend & it offered a much-needed boost to exhibitors that happened to be open in the U.S. & Canada.
Tenet opened to an estimated $20.2 million over the weekend from 2,810 theaters. There really is no context for the opening weekend figure because this is not your typical Labor Day release. This is our first indication of what it might look like to see an event film open in a box office climate where eight of the top ten theaters aren’t open including areas like Los Angeles, San Francisco & New York.
The CinemaScore may also be skewed for Tenet as the film earned a so-so “B” when Christopher Nolan’s films typically earn a “B+” or “A”. CinemaScore typically polls theaters in Washington, New York, and California & some of their theaters are off the grid, which indicates the CinemaScore could’ve been higher. Tenet also has a 79% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes & a 74% fresh rating from critics but even that needs to be taken with a grain of salt because Los Angeles & New York film critics weren’t cleared to see the movie in advance since the film wasn’t opening in their markets.
Worldwide, Tenet cleared $150 million over the weekend. This includes 46 markets on 52,913 screens. The big new market was China, which pulled in $30 million. Tenet costs $200 million to make before marketing spend and there is more ground to cover before profitability but this could indicate a good start.
