Christopher Nolan’s Tenet may have been delayed beyond everyone’s liking, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But finally, the Warner Bros movie is now releasing in theatres in India. Advanced bookings have painted a rosy picture for the Tenet release in Indian theatres. More than 25 thousand tickets for the movie have been sold already. Going by the initial numbers, trade analysts predict Tenet to do a business of around 4-5 Crores in the opening weekend.
But the above statistics only tell the story of big cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Tier II cities have run into a surprising wall in the release of Tenet. And it is a wall that even Warner Bros, the production studio that owns Tenet, could not have predicted or factored into their plans when they decided on 4th December as the release date for Tenet. And that wall is Netflix. Or more specifically, Netflix StreamFest – the upcoming weekend when Netflix is absolutely free to stream for every Indian.
Netflix StreamFest, the free Netflix weekend, has put theatre-owners in the smaller cities and towns in a fix. People here will be very keen to sample the delights of Netflix, especially when it’s free Netflix. Netflix is one of the elite OTT platforms, not to say, on the expensive side. Netflix StreamFest is an excellent opportunity for people in smaller Indian towns and cities to check out the shows and recent direct to digital movie releases on Netflix.
The general thinking in these places is –
Why pay a bomb to watch just one movie in the theatre, and that too in the midst of Covid-19, when they can enjoy a vast bouquet of content on Netflix StreamFest.
Andhra Box Office, one of the most comprehensive websites that understands the pulse of smaller places, shared on Twitter, “Exhibitors outside big cities are backing out from screening Tenet due Netflix scheduling their (free) StreamFest this very same weekend. And Warner Bros distribution affiliates have been demanding for steep advances upfront”.
It is a difficult situation in any way for exhibitors and theatre owners in smaller cities. Let’s see what the future holds. The Box Office results will reveal the fate of Tenet in these places.
Stay tuned to Binged.com for more details on Tenet and its Box Office collection in India, and also on Netflix StreamFest!
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