(Photo: Warner Bros.)

Christopher Nolan has said he is "thrilled" with the global box office performance of his latest movie, Tenet.

When it opened across the world in August and September, Nolan's complex action-thriller become the first Hollywood "tentpole" blockbuster to get a theatrical release since coronavirus forced theaters to shut down and then re-open, tentatively, with social distancing rules in place.

The film, which stars John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, has since grossed more than $347 million – enough to make it 2020's biggest movie, but less than any Nolan movie since 2006's The Prestige.

Many other comparable blockbusters, including Marvel's Black Widow and new Bond movie No Time to Die, have had their release dates pushed back to 2021 instead of trying to attract cinema fans back to theaters while Covid-19 continues to spread.

"I’m thrilled that it has made almost $350 million," Nolan said during an interview with the L.A. Times.

"But I am worried that the studios are drawing the wrong conclusions from our release — that rather than looking at where the film has worked well and how that can provide them with much needed revenue, they’re looking at where it hasn’t lived up to pre-Covid expectations and will start using that as an excuse to make exhibition take all the losses from the pandemic instead of getting in the game and adapting — or rebuilding our business, in other words."

"Long term," he continued, "moviegoing is a part of life, like restaurants and everything else. But right now, everybody has to adapt to a new reality."

Do you agree with Christopher Nolan's comments on Tenet's box office performance?