As the COVID-19 pandemic falls behind us and we emerge back into “normal” day-to-day life, large tentpole films are dominating the box office once again. Back in September 2020, Christopher Nolan, the director behind the revolutionary Dark Knight trilogy, a tale of dream-stealing espionage (Inception), and WWII epic Dunkirk, released his next major film: Tenet. Headlined as the $200 million blockbuster movie that would save the theatres and simultaneously prevent studios from shifting to streaming platforms, Warner Bros. gave their most successful director what he wanted (aside from his typical $20 million salary and 20% of the first-dollar gross).
But the risk didn’t pay off. It failed so spectacularly that it may have lost at least $50 million.
Initially, dates kept changing from July 17 to July 31 to August 12 causing Warner Bros. to lose between $200,000-400,000 in marketing fees. It was finally released in the United States on September 3 to the tune of $20 million. But that surprising success didn’t last as it grossed a total of only $363 million worldwide over its three month stay in theatres.
During this time, other studios watched and waited to see if the risk Warner Bros. took with their superstar director would be worth it. Besides, if any one could draw a crowd, it was Nolan. Despite only making 10 feature films, they have all been deemed true masterpieces in their own way. The box office collection for each wasn’t too bad either.
Once the dust settled, studios and creators saw that they would have to adapt and not rely completely on the theatrical experience (one that Nolan is a true proponent of) if they wanted to get people to watch their movies. WB shifted to a hybrid model by releasing their movies in the theatres and on HBO Max simultaneously. Disney did the same thing with Soul, Mulan, Onward and others through Disney+.
With people able to watch the movies they love in the comfort of their own home, and, in a way, saving money on concessions, theatres took a big hit and would be on the downward slope until another Warner Bros. property, Godzilla vs. Kong (maybe?) would breathe life into the box office again on March 31, 2021.
For the first time, Hollywood did not rake in the most cash at the box office and was outdone by movies produced in Asia like Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, The Eight Hundred, and My People, My Homeland.
Now, should Nolan have followed Warner Brothers’s plan and released his epic via the theatre-HBO Max hybrid model even though he called the streaming service “the worst”? In my opinion, yes. He may be the most original and creative director of his time, but his inability to agree to these terms cost him his relationship with the sole movie production company he has worked with for 18 years.
However, if you think about it, who really lost? The man who writes, directs, and produces his own billion-dollar grossing original movies or the production company that finances them? Directors like Nolan are rare. Production companies, will (or should) kill to work with him. The grand scale and sheer creativity of his movies are what theatres are made for. So, in my opinion, Nolan 1, Warner Bros. 0.
Universal knows who they’re working with hence the $100 million production budget on Nolan’s next, Oppenheimer. They also gave Nolan total creative control, which will most likely work out in Universal’s favor where they won’t feel terrible for forking over Nolan’s typical pay day. With a 100-day theatrical window and a blackout period from the studio wherein the company would not release another movie three weeks before or three weeks after, it seems like a risk. But with each release after the other picking up momentum (and cash) at the box office, Universal should be in a good place. After all, they are working with a man who lives for the theatrical experience and was so confident with his last production that he believed it would save them.