Will Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ become the next box office winner?

As of Monday night, box office revenues for “The Eight Hundred”, the first Chinese blockbuster to hit the big screens after theaters closed due to the pandemic, exceeded two billion yuan (290 million yuan). US dollars).

Ten days after its official release on August 21, the film has already become a major boost for the Chinese film market, which has been stagnant for more than six months. Insiders have now raised their expectations of their final income to three billion yuan (440 million US dollars).

‘The eight hundred’ dominates

The film, directed by Guan Hu, focuses on a well-known battle during the Chinese war of resistance against Japanese aggression, the Sihang Warehouse Defense in November 1937. It is also known to many as a battle broadcast live to the world.

The battlefield, the Sihang Warehouse, is located on the north bank of the Suzhou River in Shanghai, and on the other side are the concessions held by the great western powers, which the Japanese invaders had to avoid damaging. Thus, heaven and hell coexisted on different sides of the same river during the four days that the battle occurred.

While the 452 Chinese soldiers had to hide their true strength and pretend to be “800 warriors” to fight a much larger number of invaders, across the river local Shanghai residents and the Western media were watching the progress of the historical event.

To present the historical scene in its details, Guan Hu and his team spent 18 months building a film set in the city of Suzhou, which covered 13 hectares and has 68 buildings. The film is said to be the best war movie in the history of cinema.

Christopher Nolan is back

However, the dominance of “The Eight Hundred” faces a challenge as Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” opens in China on September 4. Released internationally over the weekend, the film has already grossed US $ 53 million despite some of the theaters remaining closed.

In addition to a strong debut, Nolan has already earned critical acclaim during previews and with the film set to make its debut in China, many Christopher Nolan fans are already eager enough to hit theaters. .

Characterized by his unique storytelling and ingenious combination of commercial and artistic elements, Christopher Nolan almost never disappoints his audience. And as the first foreign blockbuster to debut in Chinese theaters after the pandemic, it carries high expectations at the box office.

To heat up the field, Nolan’s 2014 film “Interstellar” was screened again in early August and earned more than 800 million yuan (US $ 116.9 million) overall. Another Nolan movie, “Inception,” also hit the big screens recently for re-screening.

Weekly box office surpasses 1 billion yuan

The newly released romantic movie “Love You Forever” took second place in the weekly box office rankings. Debuting on August 25, which marks Chinese Valentine’s Day, the film has already grossed 419 million yuan (61.2 million US dollars).

“Wild Grass,” also a romance film released on the same day, ranked third with 49.6 million yuan ($ 7.25 million), albeit with a poor response from critics. It was only given a 4.6 out of 10 points on Douban.com, one of the Chinese websites that resembles Rotten Tomatoes.

It was followed by the American novel adapted film “Little Women” starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson and Timothée Chalamet, all of whom have a large fan base in China. The film only grossed 32.5 million yuan (4.75 million US dollars) since its debut on Chinese Valentine’s Day. It was followed by the fifth in the weekly box office ranking, the animated film “Onward.”