While `Tenet` would have grossed far more than $350 million in non-pandemic times, Nolan believes the movie performed strongly enough in global markets to warrant the rebuilding of the exhibition market.
`Warner Bros. released 'Tenet,' and I'm thrilled that it has made almost $350 million,` Nolan said. `But I am worried that the studios are drawing the wrong conclusions from our release - that rather than 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 and will start using that as an excuse to make exhibition take all the losses from the pandemic instead of getting in the game and adapting - or rebuilding our business, in other words.`
`Tenet` has succeeded better than expected at the international box office ($293 million), but it was considered a huge failure in the U.S. as the first major studio tentpole to open amid the pandemic. After three release delays (July 17 to July 31 to August 12 to September 3), Warner Bros. opened `Tenet` in U.S. theaters over Labor Day weekend.
