Tenet - Box Office Autopsy

Christopher Nolan's time inverting spy film that follows a protagonist fighting for the survival of the entire world.
Posts: 1517
Joined: January 2013
Not too good, even more so if that 20.2 million domestic number include the advancing screenings that began on this past Monday.

User avatar
Posts: 20188
Joined: June 2010
Location: The White City
Tough to read into, but these are fairly okay numbers on the lower end of expectations. 8 out of the top 10 theaters in country per screen I guess are still not open, and huge markets are still closed.

Ultimately, they needed an unqualified win to help this leg out. This isn't that. It isn't good news for WB.

EDIT: to add, user reviews keep dropping. Already a 7.9 on IMDB. Users have it at 79% on Rotten Tomatoes. Lower opening weekend + poor word of mouth aint good.


-Vader

Posts: 1517
Joined: January 2013
WB has about 10 or so days to decide what to do with Wonder Woman. Lots of pressure, I can't seem them sacrificing a huge important property, but if its delay, then they and Nolan look like idiots.
Also, many theaters will likely close down again, they can't stay open playing only Tenet, New Mutants, and Unhinged for a couple of months straight.

User avatar
Posts: 1310
Joined: May 2017
Location: Elk Grove, CA
I guess this film will just have to go down as a cult classic if it wants to gain any traction from audiences again. Maybe someday people (including myself) will understand it more, and then be able to wrap their heads around how they truly feel about the film.

I've only seen it once, and am reserving judgment on my rating until I can totally assess what it is I even saw. It could be a 10, or it could be a 6. Who knows, really?

Posts: 1408
Joined: July 2013
Not the ideal start, but we have to remember that this most likely has only been playing in around 2,000 theaters or so in the US.

But at this point, even though international numbers seem good, I just don't see this reaching $400M total WW like I hoped, which sucks. It is what it is.
Last edited by Innovator on September 6th, 2020, 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Posts: 1517
Joined: January 2013
With what's looking like weak China numbers longterm, I don't think it will make much more than 300 million.

User avatar
Posts: 20188
Joined: June 2010
Location: The White City
I know I'm a broken record at this point, but WB and Nolan massively overplayed their confidence in Tenet's accessibility. Likely from conception to release. Audiences don't want to leave the safety of their homes and watch a movie that takes this much work to enjoy.

At minimum, they should've had this release late 2020. At best, they should have delayed to 2021.


-Vader

Posts: 1408
Joined: July 2013
$300M - $350M WW is my guess too.

I will say though, a 36% drop internationally seems good to me, considering the more mixed word of mouth.

User avatar
Posts: 1310
Joined: May 2017
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Vader182 wrote:
September 6th, 2020, 1:56 pm
I know I'm a broken record at this point, but WB and Nolan massively overplayed their confidence in Tenet's accessibility. Likely from conception to release. Audiences don't want to leave the safety of their homes and watch a movie that takes this much work to enjoy.

At minimum, they should've had this release late 2020. At best, they should have delayed to 2021.


-Vader
I was personally too impatient for that, haha.

It just seems weird that audiences can't pick a lane, though. They complained about the Ellen Page character in Inception, and now they're essentially dissatisfied because she's not there. I guess they prefer spoonfeeding after all.

(and in all fairness, even Neo is that kind of character in The Matrix... with the difference being that movie has actual characters rather than just plot devices)

User avatar
Posts: 20188
Joined: June 2010
Location: The White City
or maybe it's the filmmaker's job to guide a general audience through a convoluted 200 million dollar movie, just a thought

nolan could punch everyone's spouse in the gut and some of you would say the audience isn't smart enough to understand it


-Vader

Post Reply