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‘Tenet’ Stands Tall in Struggling U.K., Ireland Box Office

Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” ruled the U.K. box office for the eighth weekend in a row, collecting £187,275 ($242,900), according to final numbers from Comscore.

The Warner Bros. title now has a running total of £16,877,908 ($21,892,508).

CinemaLive’s concert film “Michael Ball & Alfie Boe – Back Together” bowed in second place with £175,778 ($228,028).

The concert film, and Dogwoof’s documentary “I Am Greta,” about climate change activist Greta Thunberg, that debuted in eighth place with £29,687 ($38,504), opened in a market devastated by cinema closures.

Most cinemas in Ireland are closed because of the second wave of coronavirus, while the entire Cineworld/Picturehouse cinema chain remains shuttered until further notice due to the lack of big ticket films. Many screens of the Vue and Odeon chains are also operating weekends only. And, from Oct. 23, Wales goes into a 17-day lockdown and cinemas will remain shut.

At the screens that remain open, some titles continued to display box office legs. Studiocanal’s acclaimed “Saint Maud” collected £132,282 ($171,544) in its second weekend for a running total of £520,311 ($674,742), in third place.

Shear Entertainment’s young adult sleeper hit “After We Collided” took £107,472 ($139,367) in fourth place and now has a total of £3,759,883 ($4,875,719).

Rounding off the top five is Warner Bros.’ “Cats & Dogs 3: Paws Unite” with $107,073 ($138,865) for a total of £870,536 ($1,129,011).

The upcoming weekend, Sky Cinema is hoping to cash in on the school half term holidays in the U.K. by opening family friendly title “The Secret Garden” at more than 100 locations. The film’s stars Colin Firth and Julie Walters should keep parents interested as well.

Another relatively wide release, also across 100 locations, is family-friendly release “Max Winslow and the House of Secrets,” from Munro Film Services.

The closest the weekend gets to anything resembling a blockbuster action film is Signature Entertainment’s “Honest Thief,” starring Liam Neeson.

The weekend also includes Arrow Films’ 4K re-release of Guiseppe Tornatore’s beloved 1988 Oscar-winner “Cinema Paradiso”; Curzon’s release of Francois Ozon’s LGBT title “Summer of 85”; Dartmouth Films’ documentary “One Man and His Shoes”; and WWII espionage drama “A Call To Spy.”

Sony Picture Releasing’s Cannes and Deauville winner “The Climb” is another release this weekend, as is Altitude’s COVID-19 response documentary “Totally Under Control,” directed by Alex Gibney.

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