Warner Bros. took a gamble when it chose to release Tenet over the summer, though CEO Ann Sarnoff maintains that the studio was "very pleased" with how Christopher Nolan's film performed. Most analysts have dubbed the film a box office disappointment, with it likely resulting in the studio making a loss on a film that would have been a guaranteed hit in normal circumstances.
"Christopher has [a] huge following, of course in the U.S., but his other movies have always over-indexed overseas," Sarnoff tells Variety. "And if you remember back in June, July, August, the international markets were more open than the United States, so we had this amazing movie that really deserved to be on the big screen."
The CEO added that box office sales are now a "marathon versus a sprint," and noted, "[We’re] getting close to $350 million in box office which is really good in a pandemic and over $50 million in the U.S."
Despite Sarnoff's positive take on Tenet, it seems Warner Bros. is still taking a wait-and-see approach with Wonder Woman 1984, a film currently scheduled for release on Christmas Day. Many believe it will be postponed again, while others are convinced a surprise HBO Max/PVOD release is in the cards.
"It really is about how the U.S. continues to open, and whether there are any other surges," Sarnoff said of plans for the DC sequel. "We’ve got a little bit of time to figure that out."
Hopefully, another delay can be avoided, but it's not looking good.
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