Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” has begun its rollout in several international countries with the film to open in markets such as the UK, Korea, France, Germany, Australia, Italy and Spain on Wednesday and up to forty markets through Friday.
At this time, any comparable box-office estimates are out the window as no-one is quite sure what to expect. On the one hand this is being seen as the potential savior of exhibition with cinemas and the studio pushing hard with marketing to get people back into movie theaters. It’s also opening in regions where Nolan films tend to overperform including Europe and Korea.
On the other the health risks remain high, even in countries where the virus is mostly under control. In addition capacity and screening limits in nearly all markets, and virus resurgences in some key ones, means it’s all still in flux.
In order to cut back on speculation, Warners will keep preview gross numbers under wraps and will not be reporting international box office numbers until Sunday. Industry sources however are estimating “Tenet” to have a baseline of $25 million across the five-day offshore opening, though some are predicting higher levels of $30-40 million.
Review wise the film’s getting good but not great notices. At 83% (7.25/10) on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s one of the mid-lower range Nolan films ahead of only “Following” (81%), “The Prestige” (76%) and “Interstellar” (72%).
A report in Variety has indicated that Warner Brothers has issued very strict rules about what cities in the U.S. can and cannot play the film at local drive-in cinemas. Basically the film will only be shown at drive-ins where it also can be shown at regular cinemas in the same city – meaning drive-ins in New York City, Los Angeles, etc. are out.
Meanwhile the film has also made headlines due to… Tom Cruise of all things. Cruise and his “Mission: Impossible VII” director Chris McQuarrie attended a London screening of the film and posted video of their adventure. Cruise can be seen highly endorsing the film and the cinema experience, even though he appears to be racing out of the cinema at his first opportunity.
Big Movie. Big Screen. Loved it. pic.twitter.com/DrAY5tRg5P
— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) August 25, 2020
Source: Deadline