‘Tenet' Grosses Mediocre $6.9M at the U.S. Box-Office

Although it opened in 100 additional theaters this weekend, Tenet’s box-office actually went down by 29 percent in its second North American weekend. Yes, Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic made a *whopping* $6.7 million in 2,910 theaters. A disappointing result which will now have studios delaying their big titles furthermore.

As cinemas in the two biggest markets, New York and Los Angeles, remain closed, about 70 percent of U.S. theaters are actually open for business. The domestic total gross is now at a paltry $29.5 million. That’s only 15 percent of the worldwide total to date, an enigma as the U.S. market usually accounts for 40-50% of total worldwide grosses for blockbusters such as “Tenet,” which has now hit the $200 million mark internationally. It is projected to hit the $300 million mark in the next few weeks. That is still lower than the production and marketing expenses the WB spent on the film.

Numbers like these have to do with the already-mentioned NYC and L.A. shutdowns, but there are still clearcut safety concerns for many in the country, the majority of people still do not want to risk going to watch a movie. This has surely alerted studios, who must now be wary of risking it and filling in the release-schedule gaps for the rest of the year.

Earlier in the week, “Tenet” studio Warner Bros decided to delay their next big juggernaut “Wonder Woman 1984” from an October release to a December one — they saw Nolan numbers, they panicked and now WW84 is a holiday release. Don’t be surprised if “No Time to Die,” due for release in November, gets delayed again in the next few weeks.