‘Tenet’ tallies $20.2M over holiday weekend
In a litmus test for American movie-going in the pandemic, Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” brought in an estimated $20.2 million (U.S.) through the holiday weekend in U.S. and Canadian theatres.
About 70 per cent of U.S. movie theatres are currently open; those in the country’s top markets, Los Angeles and New York, remain closed. “Tenet” played in 2,810 North American locations, about three-fourths of what most major releases typically launch in. Theatres in Canada, where COVID-19 cases are much lower than in the U.S., began showing “Tenet” a week earlier. “Tenet” opened stronger in China. It debuted there with $30 million in sales from Friday to Monday. Overall internationally, the “Tenet” overseas total is $126 million, with a global tally thus far of $146.2 million. The film, which cost $200 million to make and at least $100 million to market, will need about $500 million to break even.
The Walt Disney Co. this weekend also debuted its $200 million live-action “Mulan” remake, but did so as a $30 purchase for Disney Plus subscribers. But “Mulan” is also playing in theatres in some overseas territories. It began with $5.9 million in Thailand, Taiwan, the Middle East, Singapore and Malaysia. Next week, it debuts theatrically in its more important market: China.
Last weekend offered the first significant opportunity for U.S. cinemas to convince moviegoers to come back. Disney’s “The New Mutants,” a long delayed “X-Men” spinoff, collected about $7 million in 2,412 locations last weekend. Its total is now up to $11.6 million.