Box Office: What 'Tenet' and 'Mulan' Mean for Future Releases
It’s been about four weeks since the release of Christopher Nolan’s newest blockbuster Tenet, and although the numbers are a bit better than expected, they are far from his normal. Tenet, written and directed by Nolan himself and starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, is a mind-bending, time warping film where the Protagonist (Washington), must stop a renegade Russian tycoon from starting World War III. The film’s budget is estimated to be $205 million and has grossed $251 million so far in its theatrical run. Domestically, Tenet has struggled, opening with $20 million and grossing only $36.1 million. This can be attributed to no releases in larger markets of the country like California and New York, along with worrisome moviegoers and limited capacity in theaters.
On Netflix, the global top 10 films list is led by the Netflix originals; The Devil All the Time, The Social Dilemma, and The Paramedic. The Devil All the Time is Netflix’s newest thriller about sinister characters who converge around a young man devoted to protecting those he loves in a postwar backwoods town teeming with corruption and brutality. The film is directed by Antonio Campos and written by Antonio and his brother Paulo. The film is headlined by Spider-Man star Tom Holland, along with Bill Skarsgård (It) and Robert Pattinson. Following The Devil All the Time is Netflix’s documentary The Social Dilemma, which is a documentary about the dangerous impact of social media, and the Spanish thriller, The Paramedic. The Paramedic, written and directed by Carlos Torras, is about a young man facing reality in a wheelchair, named Ángel (played by Mario Casas), who has a deadly obsession with seeking revenge on the woman who left him. All three of these movies hold the top 3 spots of Netflix’s global top 10 movies and are all in the top 10 of the US list.
Box Office Roundup and Looking Ahead: Disney’s live-action remake of the animated hit, Mulan (of the same title) was released the same weekend as Tenet. Mulan had no theatrical releases domestically and has had a disappointing time internationally. The film’s budget was estimated to be $200 million and its international gross is only $57 million, 94% of which is from the Asia Pacific region and China. Mulan is available in the US, however. Viewers can watch the film if they have a Disney+ subscription and also pay $30 on top of that. It’s difficult to tell how the film is doing in the US, as Disney has yet to release their numbers and views from the remake.
Looking ahead, it seems both Mulan and Tenet may be bad omens for the film industry. Tenet was supposed to be the release that got viewers back into theaters, but with such a poor performance in the US and no help from the two largest markets in the country (Los Angeles and New York), not many other studios feel comfortable releasing their films. Warner Brothers has even delayed their next blockbuster (again), Wonder Woman 1984, the sequel to the successful Wonder Woman. Warner Brothers has chosen to delay the film to Christmas day of 2020 in hopes of allowing Tenet as much unchallenged time in the theaters as it can.
Following this news, Candyman, directed by Nia DeCosta and written by DeCosta, Win Rosenfeld and Jordan Peele (producing it as well), has also been delayed yet again to now sometime in 2021. Marvel’s Black Widow has also been delayed to now May of 2021, which in turn is delaying Marvel’s next phase of films. This includes the star-studded The Eternals, starring Angelina Jolie, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry and many others. Marvel’s delay may also come from Mulan’s disappointing domestic release. If Disney is unable to lure viewers to their streaming service with exclusives, perhaps they see no point to even attempt it with a larger franchise like the MCU.
