Releasing a film in the times of a pandemic is a risky business. Especially if the film is made on a big budget. Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet which became the first big-budget Hollywood film to release during the pandemic took this risk and managed to earn nearly $350 million worldwide.
Is this figure sufficient for such a big film or not? This is the question that is on every trade analyst and studio’s minds. Although, the director of the film, Christopher Nolan is happy with the film’s performance. What he is worried about is that the studios might draw “wrong conclusions” from its box office performance.
The film had a staggered release in August at the places where theatres were allowed to open up.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nolan talked about the film’s performance and said that he is “thrilled” with Tenet’s box officer performance. On this he shared –
“Warner Bros released Tenet and I’m thrilled that it has made almost USD 350 million.”
Regarding the issue that other studios are worried about the film’s performance, Nolan has this to say :
“I am worried that the studios are drawing the wrong conclusions from our release — that rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much-needed revenue, they’re looking at where it hasn’t lived up to pre-COVID expectations and will start using that as an excuse to make exhibition take all the losses from the pandemic instead of getting in the game and adapting — or rebuilding our business, in other words.”
The film’s star cast included John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh. An espionage thriller, the film dealt with the concept of time.