Tenet is one of the first major films to release to theaters during the Coronavirus pandemic, and one of the only movies to stick to its guns by refusing any sort of VOD option, whatsoever. While other companies have opted to release on streaming platforms or VOD only, Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. remained steadfast that Tenet demands to be watched on the silver screen, and it seems the plan may have backfired. In an unusual move, Warner Bros. has neglected to release daily box office numbers for Tenet, a decision that has frustrated other studios, and broken the norms of how these figures are typically reported.
As reported by Variety, Warner Bros. has withheld daily numbers and instead relied on releasing carefully selected pieces of information. While the exact reason for the hidden information is unknown, Variety and others have speculated that the quiet is due to fears that the film will be deemed a failure for failing to reach certain estimates. Presumably, Warner Bros. felt that releasing numbers in large chunks, as opposed to day by day, would result in more favorable impressions from analysts and consumers.
They might be right to fear people’s reactions however, as the numbers don’t look fantastic. The movie’s opening weekend generated earnings of about $9 million dollars in the United States, with a pretty significant 30% drop on the following weekend. While the international box office is a much better $200 million, it’s clear that now was not the time to release in the U.S. and not even the pull of a blockbuster like Tenet could encourage people to take the risk of visiting theaters during the pandemic. It seems that Warner Bros. is trying to save some amount of face by keeping the exact numbers closer to its chest, and making sure they don’t reveal exactly how much they overestimated this release.
It must be said that expecting the kind of numbers that a similar release would’ve brought before the pandemic is absurd, and one would think that Warner has adjusted expectations appropriately. Of course Tenet isn’t hitting the kind of return it would’ve this time last year, but if it’s also not hitting numbers adjusted for the pandemic, Warner must be questioning its strategy for Wonder Woman 1984. The studio recently delayed that movie’s release until December, no doubt hoping theaters audiences would be close to normal again.
Interestingly enough, Warner Bros. has gotten the approval of several other studios in their bid to hide the numbers, though it’s unclear when they’ll get frustrated with the secrecy. Typically, box office numbers are reported by a third party, Rentrak. Reportedly, Warner Bros. had to get the approval of several unnamed studio heads to hide the data. As of now, Warner Bros. and Rentrak have not commented on the situation.
Source: Variety
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