Weekend Box Office (September 11 - 13, 2020)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND After not reporting domestic weekend box office numbers for its first frame (which was Canada only) as well as for the second frame (which added the U.S. run) Warner Bros. finally released specific estimated grosses for the third weekend for the time-bending event film Tenet which came in at $6.4M. The studio reported a 33% decline from the previous weekend which can now be calculated at $9.5M for the Friday-to-Sunday span. Last weekend, Warners gave out specifics for markets all around the world, but only released a total cume figure ($20.2M) for the domestic run which at the time included 12 days in Canada and 8 days in the U.S.

Playing in 2,910 locations, up 100 from last week, Tenet averaged $2,199 which was by a wide margin the largest of any movie in the marketplace. Other wide releases were all below $800 per theater with current conditions seeing multiplexes in top markets like New York and Los Angeles still closed plus open theaters nationwide having reduced capacity.

What we are seeing with Tenet is the possible ceiling at the box office right now with about 30% of the market still not reopened. But with Warners pushing Wonder Woman 1984 from October 2 to Christmas, Tenet now has no major competition to deal with for over a month - something that would never happen in the old days. The Christopher Nolan film hopes to keep on playing as the only major game in town, and boosting its total slowly and steadily while it keeps fingers crossed for those top cities to reopen in the weeks ahead.

Overseas, Tenet grossed another $30.5M from 48 markets with one third of that coming from China. Total international is $178M with global now $207.2M. Most markets have held up well, but China fell by two-thirds after a huge opening with the local tally now $51M but eroding fast. Disney opened Mulan in theaters there this weekend taking over the top spot for the frame with $23.2M.

Holding up pretty well in second place was the comic book pic The New Mutants with $2.1M representing a 31% decline in the third round. That's quite respectable considering the bad buzz on the film and the fact that it was coming off of a holiday weekend. 20th Century has banked $15.3M to date from North America, another $14M from overseas markets, and a global cume of $29.3M.

The Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged is turning out to be a long-term player sliding a low 17% in its fourth weekend to $1.5M. Solstice has taken in $13.8M so far and aims to break $20M domestic if it can continue to pull in new crowds each week.

Sony opened its new romantic comedy The Broken Hearts Gallery in 2,204 locations this weekend and took in $1.1M for a per-theater average of $510. Reviews were positive, audience buzz also was very good, and the Saturday gross improved upon Friday's so the studio expects playability into the fall on this PG-13 film.

The animated comedy The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run dropped 35% to $225,829 in its fifth weekend of Canada-only play giving Paramount $4M. Searchlight's The Personal History of David Copperfield followed with an estimated $194,528, down 41%, for a $1.4M sum.

Get earlier box office updates and analysis by following BoxOfficeGuru.com on Twitter.

Last Updated: September 13, 2020 at 8:00PM ET