Tenet Headed Toward $40 Million International Box Office Opening

Christopher Nolan's Tenet is headed towards $40 million in four days of release at the international box office. While Warner Bros. is playing the rollout close to the chest, Deadline reports having learned that the film is on track to earn $40 million since opening on Wednesday in 40 overseas markets. The film is set to open in the United States on September 3rd, with early screenings taking place in select cities. It is already playing in Canada, but those earning are not counted in the international total as they typically contribute to the domestic gross. The opening comes as theaters around the globe struggle to attract audiences in the midst of a pandemic.

According to the film's official synopsis, "John David Washington is the new Protagonist in Christopher Nolan's original sci-fi action spectacle Tenet. Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real-time. Not time travel. Inversion.

The film also stars Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh. Nolan wrote and directed the film, which was produced by Emma Thomas and Nolan. Thomas Hayslip served as executive producer. Nolan's behind-the-scenes creative team included director of photography Hoyte van Hoytema, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Jennifer Lame, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson, and special effects supervisor Scott Fisher. Ludwig Göransson composed the score.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Syncopy Production, a Film by Christopher Nolan, Tenet. Warner Bros. Pictures is distributing Tenet in theaters and IMAX worldwide. The film has been rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, suggestive references and brief strong language."

Earlier this month, Kenneth Branagh described the film as "darker than anything I've ever played. Chris does his homework, so he knew what I had done before and what he didn't want from me. He kept saying: 'You know this character has to be unremittingly evil?' Until finally, on the last day he said, regarding your character and the darkness? You really understood the memo. The sense of scale here, even on the page, is something else. It plays as a bang-up entertainment, but there's a tonne more to it. Even with Dunkirk, and the scale of that, I was aware of my character's relatively contained storyline."

Tenet opens in theaters in the United States on September 3rd.