Christopher Nolan’s Film Needs $800 Million (6000 Crores) To Break-Even & Here’s Why (Or Why Not) It Will Struggle Globally
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Christopher Nolan’s upcoming sci-fi movie Tenet has been among the most awaited Hollywood films. The film starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Dimple Kapadia and others was earlier slated for mid-July released. While Nolan was seriously planning to provide the film a theatrical release amid pandemic, it later got postponed to July 31 and then eventually to August 12.
While fans are expecting Tenet to release on August 12, there’s an update about the film being made on a huge budget.
As per the Indiewire report, Tenet which is the most ambitious project of Christopher Nolan will need $800 million (6000 crores) just to break-even. And once it achieves that mark, it will start earning profits. But $800 million is not a small thing for a sci-fi film like this especially amid the pandemic when visiting theatres is the last priority of the audience.
So, let’s have a look at the reasons why and why not Tenet may have problems at the box office.
Why Tenet may have problems at the Box Office?
1) As earlier discussed, visiting theatres is the last priority of the audience amid the crisis like these. The USA being the most affected country by COVID-19, the theatres are going to take time a long time to attract the audience.
2) And this case comes after the theatres get opened. As the daily cases of Coronavirus are still increasing in many countries while the USA being on top, even if Tenet manages to release on Aug 12 not many theatres will be able to run it. The properties which will run it will do by following social distancing rules which means there will be limited occupancies. With limited occupancies and small release, you can’t breach that mark.
Why Tenet may not have problems at the Box Office?
1) Christopher Nolan is a huge name among sci-fi lovers worldwide. So even if the film doesn’t open well in countries like the USA, it can have a chance in other ones like China, New Zealand, Canada which have recovered or partially recovered from the pandemic. Fans worldwide are starved of big-screen entertainment, so Tenet can actually get better than expected response in these countries.
2) Tenet can also be a chance for producers to expand Hollywood to remote countries. Desperate times desperate measures. Apart from the few names mentioned above, there are many more countries which have started recovering. While many of them release Hollywood films already, producers can try to reach in other countries. It will be a challenging task but if you plan to release the film theatrically in these trying times, it’s worth taking a chance.
3) It will be important for the film to stay in cinemas for a long time. Christopher Nolan’s films always have a long shelf life and they need multiple viewings. We have no doubt that people will watch Tenet multiple times. Also, if it manages to get good word of mouth then slowly and steadily producers can make profits by expanding its release. India, for example, is among one of the biggest Hollywood markets. If the film is really good, then people here will love to watch it in theatres once the situation gets into control.
Silver Line:
Having said that, Christopher Nolan’s previous films have done quite well at the box office. His films like The Dark Knight & The Dark Knight Rises have in fact crossed the $1 billion mark. Even if we talk about his sci-fi films, his Inception did a business of $830 million back in 2010. So, Tenet has a solid chance to achieve the milestone.
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