Christopher Nolan "Thrilled" With Tenet's Box Office

Two months after Tenet's release, director Christopher Nolan is "thrilled" with the coronavirus-imperiled sci-fi movie's global revenue of $350 million. Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, the director also added that he's "worried that the studios are drawing the wrong conclusions from our release."

Fans who were looking forward to Tenet being a 2020 summer blockbuster watched as the film was beset with increasingly concerning delays--including a stretch in July when it was pushed back indefinitely. When it finally was released internationally in late August, and then hit the states in early September, the film had effectively faded into the background in a year filled with a global pandemic, a presidential election, and the overall confusing and unpredictable path films now face in order to release. Tenet held firm in being a theatrical experience first, but Nolan says that stance has influenced studios and distributors looking for lessons to learn from the film's performance.

"Rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much needed revenue," said Nolan. "They're looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much needed revenue, they’re looking at where it hasn't lived up to pre-COVID expectations."

Nolan, who reiterated being proud of how the film has done, expressed a concern that studios will start to use pre-COVID predictions to make theatrical releases about offsetting losses rather than "getting in the game and adapting--or rebuilding our business."

Nolan has plenty to be introspective about, aside from the nature of 2020. In collaboration with critic film critic Tom Shone, Nolan has a new book out called The Nolan Variations. According to publisher Penguin Random House, the book is "Nolan on the evolution of his pictures, and the writers, artists, and thinkers who have inspired and informed his films."