COVID-19 has driven the global business into chaos and film industry is one such sector that had got affected the most. Cinema theatres in India have not opened yet and no one has a clue when they will be thrown open to public. Amidst this chaos, a big-budget Hollywood film ‘TENET’ directed by Christopher Nolan got released in only 50 percent of the countries across the global market. Even with big names associated with the project, the occupancy couldn’t reach 60 percent of its projected footfalls.
Theatres were sanitized, alternate seats were skipped to maintain physical distance, yet the audiences didn’t show any interest. Nolan’s previous film ‘Dunkirk’ was released in over 3700 theatres across America while the count dropped to 2000 for ‘TENET’ as the theatres were still closed in cities like LA and New York.
Made with a lavish budget of 200 million USD, under normal circumstances the movie would have recovered its budget within a week of its theatrical run. Hollywood analysts are saying that the movie needs to collect 450 million USD to break even considering all its costs. ‘TENET’ is scheduled for release in other countries on September 4. Movie reviewers have given average reviews for the movie because Nolan has set the bar high with his previous films. As the collections haven’t surpassed the 30million mark even after a week, analysts predict that the movie needs a long run of six to seven months to reach its breakeven point under these circumstances. The makers are scratching their heads over this scenario and are waiting with hope that it fares better in the remaining countries where it is scheduled to release.
Studios around the globe are reviewing the case of ‘TENET’ and are trying to learn a lesson or two from it regarding budget controls and postponing releases. Let’s see how our Tollywood responds to this and plans for the future.