Tenet Still Winning, but at What Cost?
In its second weekend in the US cinemas, Tenet continued dominating at the domestic box office. According to Box Office Mojo, Christopher Nolan’s spy-fi thriller grossed about $6,7 million. We’re writing “about” because Warner Bros. has been reluctant to release exact numbers, afraid that media might label Tenet a flop. However, the fact Tenet managed to collect over $200 million worldwide in the middle of a pandemic is downright miraculous.
Regrettably, the movie that was allegedly here to save US cinemas may end up hurting them instead. IndieWire reports total domestic box office gross last weekend barely reached $15 million. With about $5,000 per theater, this isn’t enough to cover operating costs. Re-opening was a risk in more ways than one. If the distributors hoped Tenet might change the trends of postponing major releases, they were proven wrong. Warner Bros. pushed Wonder Woman 1984 until Christmas while Universal postponed Candyman remake indefinitely.
In the second place of the last weekend’s box office is once again The New Mutants, with a bit over $2 million. A superhero film by the Twentieth Century Fox (may it rest in peace) so far grossed $29,7 million worldwide. Thriller Unhinged is once again in third place with $1,5 million and a total worldwide gross of $26,1 million. This week’s sole newcomer among the top five is The Broken Hearts Gallery. This romantic comedy starring Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers) and Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) earned $1,1 million in its inaugural weekend. And in the fifth place at the last weekend’s box office is Bill & Ted Face the Music with $293,000 and a total worldwide gross a bit over $3 million.
Taika Waititi Developing a Pirate Comedy Series
HBO Max just picked up a new comedy series from Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit), says the AVClub. Our Flag Means Death is a very loose retelling of a real-life story about Stede Bonnet. A moderately wealthy landowner from Barbados, Bonnet became a pirate after he got tired of his marriage. In what must have been a 17th-century version of a mid-life crisis, he bought himself a sailing ship, hired a crew, and began capturing and burning ships.
Our Flag Means Death was created by David Jenkins (People of Earth) who will also serve as its showrunner. Garrett Basch (The Night Of) and Dan Halsted (S.W.A.T.) will executive produce the series alongside Waititi and Jenkins. Waititi will also direct the first episode after he wraps up the production of Thor: Love and Thunder.
45-year old New Zealand filmmaker, Waititi is quite busy these days. Besides the projects we already mentioned, he is producing two spinoffs to his hit mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows: Wellington Paranormal and What We Do in the Shadows (the series). On top of that, he’s developing a sequel titled We’re Wolves as well as the new Flash Gordon movie, a Time Bandits TV series, and two Netflix shows inspired by the works of British author Roald Dahl.
Black Widow Postponed?
Variety reports Disney may once again postpone the release of Black Widow. Initially slated to come out on May 1, Marvel’s next superhero movie is still set for November 6. The article also mentions Disney executives are considering distributing Pixar’s latest CGI-animated film Soul on digital platforms instead of cinemas. The studio originally slated Soul for June 19, 2020 and then delayed it until November 20, 2020.
Black Widow is an action-adventure following the exploits of the titular super spy, played by Scarlett Johansson. Directed by Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome), Black Widow also features David Harbour (Stranger Things), William Hurt (The Incredible Hulk), Florence Pugh (Fighting With My Family), Rachel Weisz (The Mummy), and Ray Winstone (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Meanwhile, Pete Docter’s (Inside Out, Up) Soul tells a story about a music teacher (voiced by Jamie Foxx – Collateral), who accidentally ends up in the afterlife.
As the pandemic continues, repeated delays of new movies are already having an effect on other titles down the line. For example, Soul’s latest release date was reserved for another Disney’s CGI-animated adventure – Raya and the Last Dragon. That film has already been delayed to March 12, 2021. Black Widow represents an even more extreme example since it is a part of Marvel’s Phase 4. Even though all these superhero movies are ostensibly standalone, they nevertheless need to come out in exact order because they tie in with each other. In short: if one movie gets postponed, all of them do.
And finally, with each new film moved to 2021, next year’s release schedule grows increasingly crowded and chaotic.
