Tenet - Box Office Autopsy

Christopher Nolan's time inverting spy film that follows a protagonist fighting for the survival of the entire world.
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I have two stupid questions:

1) With a movie rewards program like Regal Unlimited, even though I obtain the ticket for free (with purchase of the monthly subscription), those ticket sale values still are part of the studio's numbers, correct?

2) Since RU is relatively "unlimited" with all the movies one can attend, what's stopping me from just buying one ticket per showtime that I can get my hands on and simply not show up? Do those ticket sales count, and still go to the studio?

I wouldn't ever want to do this in place of somebody who wants to go to a near-full showing... outside of that, where is the downside? It's for a good cause, right?

The only downfall I see is if they notice I'm abusing that system since I'm not checking in at those theaters, but I would have to explore that further after I understand better answers to my two questions, hah.

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Internationally (total) it seems Tenet will cross the $200-mark by end of the day, which is good stuff. The domestic box-office will sink it though, I don't think it will be higher than $30mn total after this weekend.

In short, it needs to make another $200-250mn to be profitable, which seems like a stretch if it can't add a lot more domestically. Needs that NY/SF/LA boost soon.

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Robin wrote:
September 13th, 2020, 5:48 am
Internationally (total) it seems Tenet will cross the $200-mark by end of the day, which is good stuff. The domestic box-office will sink it though, I don't think it will be higher than $30mn total after this weekend.

In short, it needs to make another $200-250mn to be profitable, which seems like a stretch if it can't add a lot more domestically. Needs that NY/SF/LA boost soon.
The truth of the matter is we don't know how this movie will play out until it's October. This movie doesn't have a traditional release, and having a particular weak week or two doesn't really tell us anything. Cause this movie will be in theaters for 4 months minimum, (the first 2 months with no competition)

It's gonna take time for this movie to make enough money to break even, maybe until the beginning of 2021 for it to happen. So stop rushing with conclusions. We've never seen anything like this, so stop pretending that you have.

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MuffinMcFluffin wrote:
September 12th, 2020, 8:40 pm
I have two stupid questions:

1) With a movie rewards program like Regal Unlimited, even though I obtain the ticket for free (with purchase of the monthly subscription), those ticket sale values still are part of the studio's numbers, correct?

2) Since RU is relatively "unlimited" with all the movies one can attend, what's stopping me from just buying one ticket per showtime that I can get my hands on and simply not show up? Do those ticket sales count, and still go to the studio?

I wouldn't ever want to do this in place of somebody who wants to go to a near-full showing... outside of that, where is the downside? It's for a good cause, right?

The only downfall I see is if they notice I'm abusing that system since I'm not checking in at those theaters, but I would have to explore that further after I understand better answers to my two questions, hah.
With Unlimited cards, Regal needs to pay the studios their share for however screenings you reserve. So yes, when you reserve tickets and don't show up, Regal will have to pay the studio. As for your question "where is the downside? It's for a good cause, right?" It's not for a good cause. The idea here is to save the theaters. The studios will survive on merchandising for quite some time.

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LelekPL wrote:
September 13th, 2020, 10:16 am
MuffinMcFluffin wrote:
September 12th, 2020, 8:40 pm
I have two stupid questions:

1) With a movie rewards program like Regal Unlimited, even though I obtain the ticket for free (with purchase of the monthly subscription), those ticket sale values still are part of the studio's numbers, correct?

2) Since RU is relatively "unlimited" with all the movies one can attend, what's stopping me from just buying one ticket per showtime that I can get my hands on and simply not show up? Do those ticket sales count, and still go to the studio?

I wouldn't ever want to do this in place of somebody who wants to go to a near-full showing... outside of that, where is the downside? It's for a good cause, right?

The only downfall I see is if they notice I'm abusing that system since I'm not checking in at those theaters, but I would have to explore that further after I understand better answers to my two questions, hah.
With Unlimited cards, Regal needs to pay the studios their share for however screenings you reserve. So yes, when you reserve tickets and don't show up, Regal will have to pay the studio. As for your question "where is the downside? It's for a good cause, right?" It's not for a good cause. The idea here is to save the theaters. The studios will survive on merchandising for quite some time.
I don't buy concessions at theaters, never have and never will. They already have my money with my monthly membership. Unless you're saying I'm taking a seat from somebody else, I already said I wouldn't steal that seat from somebody else. So the only difference that stands in between is theaters showing up versus not.

If you're saying that it's worse that I have a membership and am "going to see a movie" means that it's bad for theaters, well then maybe they shouldn't offer such a membership. Because now it sounds like it's a bad thing if all membership members are going to see movies at this time and increase ticket sales for Tenet, like we are the bad guys now by choosing to see this movies.

I'm trying to decide which is in worse peril at the moment: theaters or WB. Clearly that answer is theaters, but I want to know what WB's loss on Tenet means for that of Nolan and these future upcoming WB films hitting theaters sooner.

Anyway, thanks for the response!

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They offer membership cards to have a steady flow of revenue coming in even if in the beginning they lose money on those programs but they count on people who buy them and not use them often (which is rare compared to something like gym membership since people actually like going to the theater instead of the gym) but especially on you coming and buying concessions. That's where they make most of their money contrary to popular belief.

And I'm not saying you can't reserve seats or shouldn't do it or that it's unethical. You paid for the service, you have all the right to use it to its fullest. But remember you're not really helping the theater chain at all by doing it, and they could use as much help as possible right about now.
Last edited by LelekPL on September 13th, 2020, 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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LelekPL wrote:
September 13th, 2020, 11:29 am
They offer membership cards because they count on people who buy them and not use them (which is rare compared to something like gym membership since people actually like going to the theater instead of the gym) but especially on you coming and buying concessions. And I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't do it. You paid for the service, you have all the right to use it. But remember you're not really helping the theater chain at all by doing it, and they need as much help as possible right about now.
I get the former aspect, but as a member I plan on going at least ten times a month haha. I'd love to go more if I legitimately had the time to do so. Their plan apparently doesn't account enough for the person like me.

But yeah, I gotcha. It's sketchy what I'm asking about, yet I was thinking about how much enough people doing that could help Nolan and WB at the same time. I'd pretty much see this every day if I was available enough to (and if the Regal five minutes down the road was open, instead of the one 40 minutes down the road).

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I'm sure they do account for people like you but they hope you're not the vast majority. Especially families or couples on dates are a great get for plans like these since they usually buy a lot of popcorn.

As for helping Nolan and WB, I don't think they need that much help. WB is under the AT&T umbrella. It's definitely tough on them right now too but not to the same level as they still have a steady flow of money from toys and merchandising coming in. And Nolan will be just fine with one flop during a worldwide pandemic. The studio will understand and still support him in the future. Don't worry.

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TENET | Warner Bros.
$6.7M Weekend Est. (North America) | 2,910 Locs.
$29.5M Domestic Total (North America)
$177M Overseas Total
$207M Global Total

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I know ticket sales go down as the weeks progress but given the current circumstance, do you think there may be a time in the near future where more people are going to see Tenet resulting in ticket sales going UP? Possibly because more theaters are opening or people are more willing to go to theaters.

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