‘Tenet’ $53 Million Opening Gives Theater Owners Hope, Plus 3 More Takeaways From This Weekend’s Box Office

Director Christopher Nolan has been a champion of movie theaters, vowing to use his latest film, “Tenet,” to help them in the midst of a pandemic-fueled crisis. Based on this weekend’s numbers, it’s mission accomplished. Despite constraints such as capacity restrictions and other social distancing measures, “Tenet” grossed $53 million this weekend from 41 countries. That includes a $7.1 million opening in the U.K. and personal opening weekend records for Nolan in nine countries. IMAX, which provided cameras and heavy marketing support for the film, reports that the film earned $5 million from just under 250 screens worldwide, meaning that IMAX “Tenet” screenings earned a global per screen average of approximately $20,000, even though auditoriums were forced to cut max capacity by at least 50%.