Christopher Nolan’s perplexing sci fi thriller Tenet crossed the $100 million mark internationally on Saturday, according to Variety. The trade calls this “robust” and representative of “signs of life after facing an existential crisis.” The film brought in $20 million from China.
These numbers largely exclude domestic reports. While Tenet did play in a number of locations as a preview, Box Office Pro has referred to these North American tallies as “the wild west.” The official opening of Thursday, September 3, got an 11th hour projection adjustment, however, when New Jersey opened its theaters on Friday, September 4. The trade predicts a $20 to $25 million cumulative domestic number for Tenet come Tuesday. Theaters continue to reduce the amount of seats available, the specifics of which vary from state to state.
Forbes reports that Mulan, which was made available only through transactional VOD on Disney + in the United States, took in a mere $6 million overseas. Chinese word-of-mouth was reportedly poor.
In the domestic theaters that are open, the X-Men film New Mutants will gross another $3.5 million once the Labor Day Weekend is through, for a total of $12.5 million. ($21 million worldwide.)
But the strangest thing is that when we put our summer whites back in the closet after Labor Day, the bronze medal for domestic earners in this very weird year of our Lord 2020 will be the Russell Crowe road rage picture Unhinged. It is predicted to finish off the weekend with a total just under $12 million domestically. Who knows, a last minute slam on the accelerator may zoom it up to second place.
Unhinged had a budget of $33 million and is the first project from Solstice Studios. And now it’s a made an indelible mark, or at least a curious footnote, in Hollywood history.
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