After months of delays, director Christopher Nolan’s film “Tenet” finally landed in U.S. theaters over the weekend, racking up more than $20 million in ticket sales.
The spy thriller, distributed by Warner Bros., had a total worldwide box office take over the weekend of $150 million, generating an estimated $78.3 million from foreign markets over the Labour Day holiday weekend.
Tenet sold $30 million in ticket sales in China over the holiday weekend. The domestic debut comes one week after “Tenet” opened internationally and marks the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film in the U.S. since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March of this year.
In pre-pandemic times, Tenet would have been expected to gross between $35 million and $55 million during its opening weekend, on par with other Christopher Nolan films such as “Interstellar” and “Inception.” The $20 million is reflective of a 50% cap on attendance at theaters and that only around 65% of cinemas have reopened to the public.
Disney’s live action “Mulan” also debuted in some international markets this weekend. The film, which went to the Disney+ streaming service for $30, hauled in nearly $6 million after opening in movie theaters in markets such as Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Middle East, Slovakia, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
Next weekend Mulan will be released in China and Russia. It is currently unclear how much Disney garnered from its premium sales of the film online.
