In any other year, a new Christopher Nolan movie releasing over the Labor Day weekend would be guaranteed to dominate the box office and potentially set countless records, but as we’re all more than fully aware, 2020 hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
That being said, the filmmaker’s Tenet has vastly exceeded expectations by raking in over $150 million globally in less than two weeks to rejuvenate the theatrical industry, and if the box office continues to show increasing signs of recovery over the coming months, it could realistically trouble Bad Boys For Life, which remains the highest-grossing title of the year with a $424 million haul.
Tenet brought in $20.2 million over the five-day weekend as the Top 10 earned a combined $28.1 million. Typically, this would be nothing to write home about, but it marks both the highest cumulative gross at the domestic box office and the biggest debut for a wide release since Pixar’s Onward opened to $39.1 million six months ago. To put things into perspective, Tenet opened in 2810 theaters with social distancing in place, while Nolan’s last effort, Dunkirk, debuted on 3720 packed screens to $50.5 million.
One thing Tenet couldn’t do though is topple the current record holder for biggest Labor Day opening, with Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake having held onto the title for a thirteenth consecutive year. That’s a hugely impressive feat for a movie that was roundly dismissed by critics and soon fizzled out at the box office, with Halloween‘s $30.5 million bow accounting for over 50% of the domestic total and nearly a third of what it brought in globally.
The Labor Day weekend isn’t exactly known as a box office juggernaut, and Halloween remains the only title to have earned more than $30 million across the holiday. Still, it nonetheless remains impressive that nobody has managed to dislodge the remake for the last thirteen years.
