‘Tenet’ Delayed Indefinitely, What’s In Store for Fans?
It is a sad day indeed for moviegoers, by large the ones who have been craving for a major Hollywood releases since the industry was put into a grinding halt due to the corononavirus. And if you had marked your calendar sometime this August to make way for Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, it seems that you will have to wait a little longer. Or maybe, a lot longer.
Warner Bros has announced that Nolan’s time-bending (and most likely mind-bending) sci-fi thriller will not get released this August 12 as planned. In fact, for this round, there won’t be any new release date stamped on Tenet. Here is the statement from Toby Emmerich, Warner Bros’ chairman regarding the delay:
We will share a new 2020 release date imminently for ‘ Tenet,’ Christopher Nolan’s wholly original and mind-blowing feature. Our goals throughout this process have been to ensure the highest odds of success for our films while also being ready to support our theater partners with new content as soon as they could safely reopen. We are not treating ‘ Tenet ‘ like a traditional global day-and-date release, and our upcoming marketing and distribution plans will reflect that
See that? “Highest odds of success” and “safely reopen” literally means that Warner Bros is simply not confident enough to place their bets in the August 12 release of Tenet worldwide, which includes US where Covid-19 cases are still surging. What’s even more startling is that Warner Bros might toss the “traditional global day-and-date release” into the bin, further suggesting that continents and countries which have brought down Covid-19 numbers might get to enjoy Tenet sooner.
“We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from exhibitors and remain steadfast in our commitment to the theatrical experience around the world. Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to proliferate, causing us to reevaluate our release dates,” Emmerich added.
What does it mean for fans and Nolan?
Sadly, if Tenet truly is subjected to staggered release dates globally, the US audiences will be on the losing end, as a minefield of Tenet spoilers will inevitably clog up the internet before they could get their eyes on the film. This goes against the very core principle in the marketing of Tenet in the early days, which is to shroud every detail in utmost secrecy, leaving fans and future audiences with nothing to grip on.
And most importantly, what will the man himself feel about this? Being a devoted believer in theatrical experience himself, having disappointed viewers back in his homeland due to the complications from the staggered release dates is surely not something that Nolan has envisioned for Tenet. Obviously, now, he has to juggle between his principles and the studio’s desire to convert Tenet into box-office ticket sales, imminently.
Originally published at https://www.thefilmaddict.com on July 21, 2020.
