Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ rules international box office after delayed release
- Spy thriller was biggest picture globally, taking in US$53 million this weekend across 41 international markets
- Film won’t appear until September 3 in the US, where Walt Disney’s ‘New Mutants’ debuted at No 1 at the domestic box
As Hollywood aims to relaunch moviegoing worldwide, Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated Tenet earned more than US$53 million in its opening weekend across 41 international markets (including 32 in Europe, the Middle East and Africa) on over 20,000 screens.
The result was the biggest opening for the director in nine countries including Ukraine and Hungary, the biggest industry opening in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with US$1.47 million and the second-biggest Hollywood film opening in Estonia, where the film was partially shot, with US$340,000 grossed over the weekend.
Nolan's film represents the first blockbuster hopeful to be released during the Covid-19 global pandemic, and its performance will be closely watched by the industry.
Despite the solid early returns, Warner Bros was notably less transparent than usual in releasing specific data about its international performance, including cherry-picking which countries to highlight in information provided to the media and also distributed by measurement firm Comscore.
Tenet opened in Canada over the weekend, but domestic numbers were not immediately available, and it is unclear if they will be released or simply folded into next weekend's report. The sci-fi mind-bender was to begin US sneak preview screenings Monday night, in areas where indoor theatre were open, ahead of an official opening on Thursday for Labour Day weekend.
As the biggest draw in the United States, the long-delayed – and critically panned – New Mutants generated US$7 million in US ticket sales and US$9.9 million globally, researcher Comscore Inc said Sunday.