In July, Warner Bros. Pictures was the first to really take the gamble of releasing a big budget studio tentpole in cinemas since the coronavirus pandemic began.
That film of course was Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” a movie that was expected to make close to a billion dollars in normal times. The movie closed out its late Summer/early Fall run with just over one-third of a billion at the global box-office, performing quite well in the overseas markets where it was released and where the pandemic had minimal impact.
Domestically the film was a dud, and even those global numbers were low enough that it gave other studios pause with many opting to relocate their Fall releases until well into 2021. Speaking for the first time since “Tenet” opened, Nolan tells The Los Angeles Times that Hollywood has misinterpreted the box office performance of his movie:
“Warner Bros. released Tenet, and I’m thrilled that it has made almost $350 million. But I am worried that the studios are drawing the wrong conclusions from our release – that rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much needed revenue, they’re looking at where it hasn’t lived up to pre-COVID expectations and will start using that as an excuse to make exhibition take all the losses from the pandemic instead of getting in the game and adapting – or rebuilding our business, in other words.”
Despite the overseas success, “Tenet” cost $200 million to produce before marketing and so needed to make at least $500 million or so in order to achieve profitability from box-office alone. Asked about the future of the industry, Nolan says: “Long term, moviegoing is a part of life, like restaurants and everything else. But right now, everybody has to adapt to a new reality.”
