GLOBAL REPORT: Tenet Clocks In Near $150M Globally with Domestic Launch and Strong International Hold

Warner Bros. reports that Tenet has reached an estimated $146.2 million at the global box office through Sunday, kick-starting the worldwide exhibition market with the first tentpole release since the start of the pandemic.

Tenet has earned $20.2 million domestically thus far (daily breakdowns are not available yet), while showing a strong hold internationally with just a 36 percent drop from last week. The global weekend take is $78.3 million (including previews) from 46 markets and 52,913 screens. The running overseas total is $126.0 million.

With approximately 68 percent of the domestic market currently open, Christopher Nolan’s latest film previously bowed in Canada last weekend before expanding to sneak previews at select locations in the United States on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Tenet then expanded into a wide domestic roll-out at 2,810 locations on Thursday.

Key states like most of California and New York remain closed. San Francisco, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Miami, and Detroit likewise aren’t open yet, while New Jersey, Maryland, and San Diego were just allowed to reopen a few days ago.

The National Association of Theater Owners reports that only one-third of consumers were aware of movie theaters being open this weekend, per a survey from industry firm NRG.

As has been frequently reported, Tenet‘s debut is merely the start of the theatrical reopening process on all fronts and its early performance will not be the same barometer for success as most films would under normal circumstances. Rather, daily and weekly holds will be important to watch as a long theatrical tail is expected on both the domestic and international fronts with minimal competition opening in the weeks ahead.

Said Warner Bros. in an email today, “We are very pleased with the initial results, with 65 percent-plus of US markets open and social distancing reduced seating capacities, but we always knew this release plan would be a marathon not a sprint as we await openings in more markets and theaters  in the coming weeks. Domestically, while our results show positive like-for-like theater indicators compared to previous films such as Dunkirk, there is literally no context in which to compare the results of a film opening during a pandemic with any other circumstance.  We are in unprecedented territory, so any comparisons to the pre-COVID world would be inequitable and baseless.”

Key International Markets

Tenet posted the biggest ever opening weekend for a Nolan film in China with a $30 million debut on 22,180 screens. It was the top market for Tenet, followed by domestic, Germany ($2.9 million, down 24 percent, reaching $8.7 million total), United Kingdom ($2.84 million, down 35 percent, reaching $13.1 million total), France ($2.79 million, down 53 percent, reaching $10.7 million total), and Russia ($2.6 million opening).

In all aforementioned markets, Tenet is the top grossing film at the box office. IMAX and 70MM earnings were up from last weekend in Germany, while the film captured 70 percent of market share in both the U.K. and Russia. France’s sharper drop is attributed to the start of school and nice weather, and the film still has a dominant 35 percent market share.

Tenet‘s Running International Cumes

First column represents local currency / second column represents United States Dollars):

China	CNY 206m	$30.0m
Domestic (U.S./Canada)	$20.2m	$20.2m
United Kingdom	£10.0m	$13.1m
France	€9.0m	$10.7m
Germany	€7.3m	$8.7m
Korea	Won 9.7b	$8.2m
Taiwan	NT$ 184.1m	$6.3m
Spain	€4.4m	$5.2m
Australia	A$6.2m	$4.52m
Italy	€3.8m	$4.51m
Holland	€3.4m	$4.1m

Tenet in IMAX

Nolan’s latest epic generated $11.1 million from 1,168 IMAX screens in 43 markets this weekend, 14.2 percent of the overall global box office frame. It’s the company’s biggest ever global September weekend.

China’s $5.3 million accounted for 18 percent of the nationwide earnings, despite IMAX representing 1 percent of total screens. It’s the third highest September opening ever for IMAX in the Middle Kingdom, topping Dunkirk‘s $4.7 million and Interstellar at the same figure.

Friday’s China opening day accounted for 21 percent of the nationwide box office, the highest first-day market share since 2013’s Gravity.

In North America, Tenet took in $2.8 million from 272 IMAX screens (estimated through Monday) to make it the company’s biggest Labor Day opening of all time despite nationwide capacity restrictions and the lack of major markets mentioned earlier. IMAX accounted for 14 percent of the domestic box office this weekend, with only 60 percent of potential IMAX locations open.

IMAX notes that only two of the top ten (and seven of the top 20) IMAX screens for Dunkirk‘s domestic launch were open for Tenet this weekend.

Internationally, IMAX screenings generated $3 million from 248 locations through Sunday. IMAX earnings from markets that were open last weekend eased just 23 percent from the Friday-Sunday frame.

Mulan’s Overseas Debut

Meanwhile, Disney reports that Mulan is earning $5.9 million from markets playing the film theatrically. It’s currently open in only 6 percent of the international footprint, and it ranked as the weekend’s top grossing film in UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. In the latter two countries, the Disney remake scored the highest opening weekend of film in 2020.

Mulan opens in China and Russia next weekend, alongside Greece, Hungary, Israel, Slovenia, Kuwait, Ukraine, Poland, and South Africa. Korea will see its debut on September 17.

Additional studio notes on Mulan’s release:

        Middle East:  Mulan opened at #1 in UAE and #2 in Saudi Arabia, posting an estimated $0.8M in each market.  UAE’s opening weekend was +6% ahead of Cinderella and +31% ahead of Tenet (F/S/S).  Saudi Arabia’s opening meanwhile was +153% ahead of Aladdin, +5% ahead of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and just -18% below Tenet (F/S/S).  Both markets have capacity restrictions in the 30% – 50% range.

·        Asia:  Mulan opened at #1 in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, posting the biggest opening weekend to date in 2020 in both Singapore and Thailand.  It also opened at #2 in Taiwan.  We estimate that all four markets currently have over 90% of theaters open, but the overall market was down vs this time last year in Malaysia (-75%), Singapore (-35%) and Thailand (-23%), while +41% up in Taiwan.  Capacity restrictions exist in each of the four markets except for Taiwan.

Territories	GBO
Middle East	$1.8M
Taiwan	$1.2M
Thailand	$1.2M
Singapore	$0.7M
Malaysia	$0.6M

The New Mutants Update

New Mutants is estimated to add $2.87 million over the domestic three-day frame and $3.5 million for the four-day. That would bring the film to $12.25 million through Monday after 11 days of play. The pic expanded to 2,754 locations this weekend as markets continued to reopen.

Overseas, Mutants is targeting $4.2 million for the three-day weekend as it expanded to 30 territories. That would give it an $8.5 million international and $20.1 million global tally through Sunday. New territories this weekend include the UK, Italy, Russia, Australia, and Mexico, among other smaller markets. Germany and Korea launch next weekend.

Territories	GBO
France	$1.9M
UK	$0.9M
Spain	$0.8M
Taiwan	$0.6M
Mexico	$0.5M

Greenland Update

Greenland posted another $624K from 1,136 locations internationally this weekend, bringing the cume to $11.5 million. Russia generated $187K (down 53 percent from last weekend), while France registered $166K (down 55 percent). In these markets, the film is pacing ahead of the performances by Angel Has Fallen, London Has Fallen, and Geostorm.

Unhinged Update

Unhinged will register an estimated $1.67 million domestically for the three-day, pushing toward a four-day haul of $2.045 million. That would bring its domestic cume to $11.676 million through Monday.

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