Christopher Nolan's new feature "Dunkirk" has officially been announced to be a hit at the box office, earning a reported $50.5 million dollars in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada alone.
The initial projected opening weekend for the movie was at $35–40 million, but the numbers are in, and the movie is well past the projection mark. This stamps Nolan as a bona fide consistent box-office winner, solidifying his relationship with his home studio, Warner Bros. Needless to say, it is safe to assume that they will continue working together in the years to come.
"Dunkirk" performed well compared to other movies released in the summer, conveniently topping even the "Transformers" movie; a series that is notoriously successful in the box office.
Warner Bros., despite their complete faith in Nolan, had their doubts given the timing of "Dunkirk's" release. Summer is the time when thought-provoking films generally do not do well in the box office. The Burbank-based studio thought of the film as something that would appeal to the older audiences, mainly Caucasian males, a demographic that are not usually avid moviegoers. Additionally, World War 1 is not a subject that most Americans can relate to which may have discouraged audiences to come and see the flick. However, the numbers speak for itself, and Nolan's unorthodox style of marketing and his natural ability to draw in a big crowd for his films has proven Warner Bros.' suspicions wrong. As reported by Deadline Hollywood, the movie has brought in an additional $1 billion dollars in domestic sales, which ranks "Dunkirk" as the 17th movie to hit that mark for Warner Bros. — something that no other studio in the world can claim. If the film continues to get good ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and other similar websites, then it is safe to say that "Dunkirk" is set to be another Nolan classic.
