GLOBAL REPORT: Tenet Crosses $40M Domestic, $280M Global Marks; Break the Silence Hits $1M in North American Debut

Photo Credits: Hoyte van Hoytema & Warner Bros. ("Tenet"), dir. Christopher Nolan

Sunday, September 27 Report: Warner Bros. checks in this morning with a report that Tenet is posting another strong weekend hold on the domestic and international fronts, adding $19.2 million globally this weekend. The worldwide haul now stands at $283.2 million.

After crossing $250 million last week, the film is pacing to top the $300 million threshold by next weekend.

Domestically, Tenet eased 26 percent to $3.4 million this weekend (both figures cited by Warner’s email today). The film passed the $40 million mark in North America and is estimated to stand at $41.2 million by Sunday’s end. This was the movie’s top global market this weekend.

In the domestic marketplace, 25 percent of cinemas remain closed, while Warner also notes that 78 percent of California (25 counties, including Los Angeles) remains closed. Other major regions like metro New York also remain inoperable.

Tenet‘s top ten theaters were dominated by California venues, though, with eight from the state landing among the top performers. Five of the top ten were drive-ins, while two were IMAX screens (both in the Los Angeles / Orange County area) and the Alamo Drafthouse in Ashburn, Virginia also stood out.

Among overall DMA markets for Tenet, Orange County / Greater Los Angeles is ahead of the pack, followed by Dallas, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Toronto, Phoenix, Chicago, Washington DC, Houston, and Atlanta.

32 percent of the domestic gross is represented by premium formats like IMAX, Dolby Cinema, and others.

Tenet‘s International Highlights

Christopher Nolan’s cerebral epic added $15.8 million this weekend from international play, bringing the overseas cume to $242 million.

Japan eased just 30 percent from its strong debut last weekend (even stronger considering it was a holiday last Sunday), when the film topped the opening’s Dunkirk and Interstellar, to add $3.0 million this weekend. The country’s local cume on the title is at an estimated $11.4 million. Tenet is tracking 46 percent of Dunkirk‘s lifetime gross at the moment.

France and Germany also delivered more staying power for Tenet, drawing a light 13 decline and 9 percent increase, respectively, for $1.4 million and $1.3 million frames. Nolan’s film stands at $18.0 million in France and $14.6 million in Germany. Holland (up 8 percent), Italy (down 17 percent), United Kingdom (down 21 percent), Korea (down 28 percent), and Australia (down 21 percent) round out the trend of strong holds this weekend.

China, the film’s top grossing market thus far, continues to see the title losing screens and market share as it dropped 71 percent to $1.6 million this weekend from 4,746 screens (down 38 percent from 7,670 last week). The Middle Kingdom has generated $64.3 million from Tenet to date.

Tenet still has 25 overseas markets yet to open.

Tenet in IMAX

As alluded to, IMAX remains a powerhouse for Tenet as the film added $2.2 million across the company network to reach $32 million in global box office from that film alone.

IMAX grosses for Nolan’s latest registered another $1.8 million from 625 screens, representing 11 percent of overseas box office this weekend, and bringing the international cume to $27 million.

Domestically, IMAX earnings on Tenet tallied $355K this weekend, down just 25 percent from last, bringing the North American cume to $5.1 million.

Tenet Key Market Weekend Estimates

Territory WK # WE BO WE BO Drop % Screens Cume Cume
    (LC) (USD)     (LC) (USD)
Domestic (U.S./Canada) 4 $3.4m $3.4m -0.26 2,850(locations) $41.2m $41.2m
Japan 2 ¥317.8m $3.0m -0.3 488 ¥1.2b $11.4m
China 4 CNY 10.9m $1.6m -0.71 4746 CNY 439.5m $64.3m
France 5 €1.2m $1.4m -0.13 933 €15.2m $18.0m
Germany 5 €1.1m $1.3m 0.09 1500 €12.3m $14.6m

Tenet Key Market Cumes

Territory Cume Cume
LC USD  
China
CNY 439.5m $64.3m
Domestic (U.S./Canada) $41.2m $41.2m
United Kingdom £14.9m $19.6m
France €15.2m $18.0m
Germany €12.3m $14.6m
Korea Won 15.5b $13.1m
Japan ¥1.2b $11.4m
Taiwan NT$ 310.7m $10.6m
Russia RBL 724.2m $9.6m
Spain €6.7m $7.9m
Italy €6.1m $7.2m
Australia A$9.9m $7.2m
Holland €5.9m $7.0m

Break the Silence Debut, Light Domestic Drops, & More

In other domestic news, event cinema received a bit of a jolt this weekend with the $1 million opening of Break the Silence: The Movie. The film, expected to be driven by fans, posted a very encouraging 52 percent increase from Friday to Saturday ($290K to $440K).

“Opening” right behind that title was Disney / 20th Century Studios’ 40th anniversary re-issue of Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. The title took in an estimated $908K from 2,097 locations this weekend in its under-the-radar distribution.

The New Mutants and Unhinged continued to post modest declines. The former added $1.147 million (down 30 percent) for an updated tally of $19.46 million. Solstice Studios’ thriller is estimated at $1.0 million (down 22 percent) for a new cume of $17.19 million. New Mutants has also now earned $38.9 million globally to date.

Cloudburst’s Infidel slid 46 percent from opening weekend last frame to $745K this weekend.

The Broken Hearts Gallery was down 41 percent from last weekend to $470K, giving it $3.24 million domestically in all thus far.

Meanwhile, Shortcut debuted to $305K from 725 locations for Gravitas Ventures, The Last Shift delivered $235K from 871 locations in its debut for Sony Pictures Classics, and Kajillionaire opened to $215K from 529 theaters for Focus Features.

Greenland Overseas Debut

STX reports that the Gerard Butler action-thriller Greenland bowed in first place across 21 countries this weekend. The estimated weekend total is $3.7 million from 2,136 locations, bringing the overseas cume to $17.7 million.

Spain is a key market for the film with a first place debut of $777K from 517 locations. The Middle East also generated $1.5 million from 283 locations.

Mulan International Update

Wrapping up this weekend’s report, Mulan added $3.3 million internationally to give it an updated haul of $64.4 million. The film’s top market remains China (by far) with $40 million in earnings there.

Photo Credits: Hoyte van Hoytema & Warner Bros. ("Tenet"), dir. Christopher Nolan