"Tenet" earns $20 million domestically, $78m international

The weekend box office numbers are in, and they're impressive -- with the usual "given the circumstances" caveat.

"Tenet," the highest-profile movie to open in theaters since March, earned $20 million at U.S. theaters and another $78 million internationally, bringing its global cumulative total to just under $150 million. Hollywood Reporter has the scoop.

If this was normaltimes, we'd be calling those numbers Christopher Nolan's biggest flop since "Insomnia" nearly two decades ago. We're used to nine-figure tallies pretty much every time one of his movies comes down the shoot.

But with most people still feeling unsafe about venturing out to the cinema, it's still a solid number. Especially given the extent to which international business is driving the total. Domestic earnings hasn't been the most important factor in studying film grosses for many years now, though American media sources still tend to lead with it.

"Tenet" is also poised to have a four-week run with very little competition. Almost nothing notable is coming out on VOD this coming Friday, and I'm not seeing much the rest of September, either. Normally one of the driest months of the year for new releases, it could prove to be a boon to Nolan's head-scratching James Bond time warp.

I still think "Wonder Woman: 1984" on Oct. 2 is the true means test for the future of the exhibition game.