To keep Christopher Nolan happy, Warner Bros. delayed the release of Tenet only by two weeks. Almost all other Warner Bros. movies have been pushed to 2021, except for Nolan’s Tenet. Nolan was very insistent on sticking to Tenet’s original release date and wanted his latest film to become the film that reopened the theatres after the pandemic lockdowns.
Theaters being shut down due to COVID-19 and its strict social distancing measures have led to the delay in the global release of numerous major films like Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Daniel Craig’s last Bond project No Time To Die. Warner Bros. pushed Wonder Woman: 1984 from June to October and want to keep as their next big release after Tenet.
New Release Date
Owing to Nolan’s resistance to keep the same release date despite the change in the global scenario since early March, Warner Bros. had withheld from officially postponing Tenet, for his sake. Nolan had left no stone unturned to release Tenet on its ideal premiere date. Comprehending the reality, he finally gave in recently and said that the film wouldn’t release unless the safety of the viewers is ensured in theatres. Alongside Warner Bros announced that Tenet would release on 16th July if 80% of the cinema halls worldwide reopen by then.
Nevertheless, the film has been pushed back by two weeks, now set to release on 31st July. To have a proper box office collection, WB wanted to delay it to an even further date, maybe by at least a couple of months, like the Wonder Woman: 1984. But it was Christopher Nolan who has suggested the new date and WB gave in their plans of an even delayed for his sake.
Tenet will be the eighth collaboration between Nolan and Warner Bros., after Insomnia, the Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk. Notably, this will be their costliest collaboration ever as well, with a budget of over 200 million dollars. No wonder WB wants to keep Nolan happy.
How fruitful Nolan’s ambition of making Tenet the film that reopened the theatres going to be? We’ll have to wait and watch to answer that, assuming that the film will not have to suffer another push back.