Tenet has taken $20.2m on its opening weekend of release in the US – an impressive haul despite being about $30m down on director Christopher Nolan’s opening weekend average.

The figure, which takes in the long Labor Day weekend and includes previews in the US and Canada, makes for a strong result, given that 45% of US venues remain closed and those that are open have reduced capacity.

Announcing the numbers, Warner Bros said: “Domestically, while our results show positive like-for-like theater indicators compared to previous films such as Dunkirk, there is literally no context in which to compare the results of a film opening during a pandemic with any other circumstance. We are in unprecedented territory, so any comparisons to the pre-COVID world would be inequitable and baseless.”

The film has earned a “B” grade from Cinemascore, which asks exiting audience members to mark the film – Nolan’s lowest mark since The Prestige in 2006.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the studio negotiated a 65% share of ticket sales (the sum is usually halved with cinemas), which should help towards recouping some of their budget, which was around $200m pre-marketing costs. Analysts suggest the film will need to take about $500m to make a profit.

Internationally, the film – on release since 26 August – has now taken around $126m, some $30m of which was in China.

This performance was healthy enough for Universal to stick with their November release plans for Bond film No Time to Die, releasing new posters and trailers as the promotional campaign once again revved up.