'Tenet' Makes $300M Globally Despite Crisis Mode At Domestic Box Office

Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" has already made $300 million at the global box office despite the crisis mode in local cinemas.

"Tenet" crossed the $300 million mark globally this weekend. It has earned $2.7 million from 2,722 venues, pushing its domestic earnings to $45.1 million, Variety reported.

Meanwhile, Disney's "Hocus Pocus," which was a flop when it was initially released in 1993 but became a cult hit on cable and streaming, performed well. It almost matched "Tenet's" gross earnings in North America by making $1.9 million from 2,570 theaters. It beat "The New Mutants" that only made $1 million from 2,1570 locations with a domestic total of $20.9 million.

"Tenet" struggled to have the same reception as Nolan's previous movies like "Inception" and "Dunkirk." The outlet noted that it could be due to the pandemic because the audiences are still hesitant to return to cinemas.

In addition, the weak results at the domestic box office could be attributed to the fact that the major markets such as Los Angeles and New York haven't allowed cinemas to reopen due to the pandemic. In fact, some traveled to other states just to watch the movie and it made the entire experience more costly for them. But they were willing to support the film.

"My friends think I’m crazy, going all the way across the country to watch it, but we want to show support for this film and we’ll do anything to see it,” said Tyler Tompkins, a California resident, who booked a plane and watched the movie in Austin, Texas.

Nolan's spy film was released in August and it made $53 million at the box office. It had the strongest start in the United Kingdom where it made $7.1 million. It also performed well in France ($6.7 million), South Korea ($5.1 million) and Germany ($4.2 million).

Tom Cruise also watched the film in London and even documented it in a video he uploaded on Twitter.

"Big Movie. Big Screen. Loved it." he wrote in the caption.

Cruise wore a face mask and clapped along with the moviegoers when the film ended. One moviegoer asked him if he liked the movie and he gave a positive response.

"I loved it. I loved it," he said while leaving the cinema.