‘Tenet’ Crosses $300 Million at Global Box Office as Regal Cinemas Weighs Closures

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent“Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train,” a Japanese action/adventure anime, was the best performing film in the world this weekend.Given an unusual Friday release, on 403 screens, by distributors Aniplex and Toho, the film earned $12 million on its opening day.

As the indies-only October box office rolls on, the Liam Neeson action film “Honest Thief” took the top spot on the charts with an estimated $3.7 million opening weekend from 2,425 theaters.

Just last week, after the surprise shutdown of Cineworld (and thus, Regal Cinemas locations) in the US and UK, AMC Theatres came out and told everyone that things should be just fine and the world’s largest cinema chain had no plans to shut down its theaters. Well, it appears that the CEO might have been speaking a bit too optimistically, as new statements from AMC point to a company on the verge of collapse.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: China’s National Day holiday officially ended last Thursday, with takings for the October 1-8 period at an estimated RMB 3.95B ($589M) as the market continues to close the 2020 gap with domestic. This weekend saw continued play for the key titles, led by patriotic pic My People My Homeland which added another $42M (-65% for the FSS) to bring the local cume to about $321M.

After five weekends atop a pandemic-drained box office, “Tenet” has ceded the No. 1 spot to 101 Studios’ “The War With Grandpa,” an indie family film starring Robert De Niro that is serving as a trial balloon of sorts for the genre.Released on 2,250 screens, “The War With Grandpa” took in a $3.6 million opening weekend for a per theater average of $1,604.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorEXCLUSIVE: No, it’s not all bad news for exhibition out there in the pandemic.Deadline has learned that seven Regal theaters–the only ones in the Cineworld owned U.S. chain– will remain open in California.

Naman Ramachandran When all 1,180 screens across Cineworld and Picturehouse’s cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland shutter from Friday, they will wipe out a third of potential box office revenue for distributors.

Naman Ramachandran Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” won the U.K. and Ireland box office crown for the sixth weekend in a row, collecting £628,247 ($813,445), according to final numbers from Comscore.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaChristopher Nolan’s “Tenet” willed itself past the $300 million mark globally this weekend even as the overall domestic box office appeared to be on the verge of collapse.Disney’s “Hocus Pocus,” a Bette Middler comedy that flopped when it was initially released in 1993, but became a cult hit on cable and streaming, almost matched “Tenet’s” grosses in North America.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: Christopher Nolan’s Tenet dipped a slight 29% at the international box office this weekend to add $11.5M from 57 markets. Offshore, the Warner Bros release has now grossed $262M.

BLACKPINK’s music video for Ice Cream has hit 300 million views! Their hit song with Selena Gomez--Ice Cream, was released on August 28 and has since managed to surpass 300 million views on YouTube on October 1. The success has come after just over a month of the talented bunch releasing this song.

Rebecca Davis editorPeter Chan’s volleyball drama “Leap” has jumped above its competition in China this weekend with a $24.6 million three-day debut, highlighting Chinese audiences’ continued preference for well-crafted local titles, according to data from the Maoyan industry tracker. The score is higher than the $23 million opening of Disney’s “Mulan” the weekend of Sept.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: In its fifth weekend at the international box office, Warner Bros’ Tenet added another $15.8M from 56 markets. The offshore cume has risen to $242M for a worldwide total of $283.2M.

Dave McNary Film ReporterChristopher Nolan’s “Tenet” has topped $280 million worldwide, dominating a mild U.S. box office with $3.4 million at 2,850 locations in its fourth weekend to go past $41 million in four weeks.The Warner Bros.

Donald Trump‘s health department is reportedly launching an advertising campaign to to “defeat despair” about the coronavirus and Dennis Quaid is one of the celebrities who will appear in the ads.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorThe first major blockbuster of the pandemic era, The Eight Hundred this week became the No. 1-grossing movie of 2020 worldwide, jumping ahead of Bad Boys For Life ($430.3 million global, per Sony).

Cinemas around the world are in trouble. I know, I know, this is shocking, right? Well, the truth is that with each passing quarter, the financial disclosures from the large cinema chains are getting more and more grim.