While the vast majority of this year’s theatrical feature films quickly made the decision to push back their releases in the face of the global health crisis, one summer blockbuster has so far refused to budge, with Christopher Nolan’s time-bending sci-fi action thriller Tenet determined to stick to its July date.
However, with the latest trailer for Tenet omitting a release date and huge question marks remaining over global cinema openings (to say nothing of cinemagoers’ willingness to venture back into the multiplexes), speculation is starting to mount that Warner Bros. will ultimately accept defeat and delay the movie to later in the summer (taking Wonder Woman 1984’s August date is said to be among the possibilities).
However, according to Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi, Warner Bros. remains “optimistic” that Tenet will make its intended date, the theater chain boss stating on an investor call that: “We’ve been in close contact with Warner Bros. and they remain optimistic and positive as well as Christopher Nolan about the July 17 opening. Of course, it depends on the continued positive movement due to the decline of COVID-19 and government restrictions being reduced.”
SEE ALSO: Tenet stars Robert Pattinson and John David Washington open up about the film
The decision over Tenet will of course come down to a financial one, particularly given its hefty $205 million budget and a hugely lucrative back-end deal for Nolan which reportedly leaves the studio needing a $1 billion gross just to break even.
What are your thoughts? Should Tenet stick to its July release date, or would you prefer to see Warner Bros. holding off until later in the year, or even 2021? Let us know in the comments or on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
Armed with only one word – Tenet – and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real-time. Not time travel. Inversion.
Tenet sees Christopher Nolan directing a cast that includes John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Clémence Poésy, Michael Caine, and Kenneth Branagh.
