Overview of the US business for the week of September 21st, celebrating the remarkable career of actress Frances McDormand

Overview for the week of September 21st.

The box office from North American theatres was driven again by Tenet in its third week. The Warner Bros. spy thriller from director Christopher Nolan reeled in $4.7M in ticket sales this weekend, and $36.1M over 18 days since its debut on 9/3.  Rounding out the top performers of the weekend was The New Mutants from 20th Century Studios with $1.6M in its 4th week, Infidel from Cloudburst Entertainment with $1.5M in its debut weekend, and Unhinged from Solstice Studios earned $1.3M in its 6th week.

Check out our Popcorn Previews Boxoffice Buzz video feature, looking at the changes announced this week by STX to the schedule for releasing their upcoming disaster thriller GREENLAND, starring Gerard Butler.

We highlight articles in our Industry News summary that discuss the current state of the exhibition and the pipeline for studio releases to theatres.  After surviving months of shutdown, most US theatres have re-opened and the results are lukewarm, with audiences slow to return. Studios have released a few new titles, with Tenet leading the pack, but are holding back on many others.  Seeing this reality, journalists and industry executives comment on the possible routes to accelerate the recovery. 

Gower Street dives into the ocean of studio release changes, and how the film backlog may be resolved as we head into 2021. In this week's Hollywood Report, Martin Grove looks at the evolution of the "blockbuster" over the years, while everyone wonders what can reasonably be expected from current releases on their opening weekends.

We conclude with our regular film data tables. Our Weekly Film Calendar provides a week-by-week run down of film releases through early December.  We report the latest buzz from Industry screenings and provide a list of recent studio release changes, MPAA film ratings announcements, and important new trailer drops.