Warner Bros. Wants 63 Percent of Tenet’s Box Office Gross
The saga of Tenet and its US release continues. In the latest twist to the story, its production company Warner Bros. is demanding a higher percentage of Tenet’s box office earnings from US movie theaters – a whopping 63 percent. In the last six months, Christopher Nolan’s new sci-fi thriller became a film that was supposed to single-handedly save US cinemas. The summer is almost over, cinemas are still closed, and this higher percentage of earnings certainly won’t help already struggling theaters.
Demands like these were only a matter of time. Ever since they were closed in March, US movie theaters have been steadily losing money. Two weeks ago, NBCUniversal negotiated a new deal with AMC Cinemas, the largest movie theater chain in the US. Thanks to this new agreement, NBCUniversal can release its most recent titles digitally only three weekends after they come out in cinemas (previously it was seven). Recently, Paramount Decrees were terminated after some seventy-odd years, meaning there’s nothing to prevent studios from buying cinemas and overseeing the distribution themselves.
As for Tenet, Warner Bros. wants to release it first in countries that tackled the COVID-19 pandemic more successfully than the United States. When the film comes to the US in early September, it will only be in select cinemas. Furthermore, Warner Bros. is understandably demanding local movie theaters to comply with all applicable laws and regulations regarding public health and safety.
The Batman Production to Resume in September?
Variety reports that filming of Matt Reeves’ The Batman might resume this September. Back in March, the COVID-19 pandemic halted the UK production after only seven weeks of shooting. Now Warner Bros. wants to restart it as there are at least three more months of filming ahead. The Batman stars Robert Pattinson and features Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Zoë Kravitz, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, John Turturro, and Jeffrey Wright. It promises to be a grittier, more realistic take on the Caped Crusader, even though Christopher Nolan already did an entire trilogy of those almost a decade ago. Even more confusing, this film is wholly unrelated both to DC Extended Universe or Todd Phillips’ Joker.
So will the filming of The Batman resume? Another production might offer us a clue. As we reported in the past, the shooting of Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic Park: Dominion resumed in July in the UK. Universal spent at least $5 million on the safety precautions, imposing strict regulations to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Presently, the production is heading out to Malta. However, this small island nation is currently experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. Because of this, Universal is deliberately scaling back its presence there, sending only the second unit to Malta. Meanwhile, movie stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, and Chris Pratt will stay far away, at least for the time being. Such are the challenges of film productions in the time of the coronavirus.
Blumhouse Bringing New Horror Movies to Amazon
AVClub reports Blumhouse Television has teamed up with Amazon to jointly produce a series of eight genre films in a program called Welcome to the Blumhouse. Producers aim to deliver the first four films in October, just in time for Halloween. The rest will come out sometime next year.
So, what movies await us? The Lie is a psychological thriller written and directed by Veena Sud (who executive produced TV shows The Killing and Cold Case). Peter Sarsgaard and Mireille Enos (who both appeared on The Killing) will portray parents covering up for their daughter after she murders her friend. Zu Quirke will direct Nocturne, starring Madison Iseman (Annabelle Comes Home) and Sydney Sweeney (The Handmaid’s Tale) as twin sisters competing at the musical academy. Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. will write and direct his feature film debut Black Box in which a man with amnesia (played by Mamoudou Athie – Underwater) undergoes an experimental treatment. And finally, Elan and Rajeev Dassani (Jinn) will adapt Madhuri Shekar’s podcast Evil Eye. It tells a story about a superstitious Indian mother (Sarita Choudhury – Little Fires Everywhere) convinced her daughter’s boyfriend is the reincarnation of a man who tried to kill her decades ago.
Throughout the last decade, Blumhouse established a reputation as a production company specializing in cheaply made yet moderately effective and extremely lucrative horror movies. Welcome to the Blumhouse isn’t its first horror anthology show. In 2018, the company co-produced a similar series of feature films for Hulu, titled Into the Dark. That series is currently in its second season.
