When “Tenet” finally got released after months of speculations, delays, and talks about saving cinemas, it became clear rather quickly that the blockbuster would not perform as it would have before the pandemic. Now, nearly two months later, Christopher Nolan finally breaks silence on the film’s performance.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times to promote film critic Tom Shone’s new book “The Nolan Variations,” Nolan confessed he doesn’t think the film underperformed. “I’m thrilled that it has made almost $350 million,” Nolan said. “But 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.”
He’s not entirely wrong there. Much was said before “Tenet” was released that other movie studios were waiting to see how the blockbuster performed before deciding what to do with their own 2020 releases, and the answer became clear when almost every big movie got delayed into 2021. Sure, “Tenet” has performed better than expected internationally, but domestically it severely underperformed, and Variety reports that the film may end up losing anywhere from $50 to $100 million, after all it’s said and done. But it seems like Nolan thinks the studios are at fault for delaying instead of adapting to the new world and just releasing the films.
“Long term, moviegoing is a part of life, like restaurants and everything else. But right now, everybody has to adapt to a new reality,” Nolan added. Does this mean Nolan is not as strict about the theatrical experience as he used to be? It’s unclear, but at least the filmmaker is happy with how his new movie performed.