After all, “Tenet” can still get a summer release back, at least outside the United States. Warner Bros. sci-fi thriller Christopher Nolan will debut internationally on August 26 before opening in select cities in North America over Labor Day weekend on September 3.
The film will be released in late August in 70 international territories, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United Kingdom. The studio has no plans to launch “Tenet” in China yet.
Warner Bros. said last week that “Tenet” could be released overseas ahead of its US release, a surprising leap from tradition as North America is the largest film market in the world and remains critical to major movies make a profit. But the studio hopes to innovate and recalibrate given the fact that international markets are already beginning to safely reopen and desperately need new Hollywood movies to attract crowds. On the other hand, the United States has seen an exponential increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, complicating plans to resume operations in national cinemas in the short term.
How Variety Previously informed, Warner Bros. recently began telling exhibitors in Europe and Asia about plans for an inaugural weekend from August 26-28. Strong ticket sales for the “Train to Busan” sequel “Peninsula,” which has generated $ 21 million in Korea since July 15, was a confidence signal for studios that customers were ready to leave the home and attend the movies.
Traditionally, a staggered implementation would be a risky proposition for a movie like “Tenet,” which cost about $ 200 million to produce and tens of millions more to market. Beyond hacking concerns, “Tenet” could face other obstacles from its new launch plan. The public knows very little about its plot, an intentional promotional tactic that has become the norm for Nolan’s twisted brain thrillers. (What we do know, however, is that it stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Elizabeth Debicki, and that it’s not a journey back in time, it’s an investment.) Revealing the film abroad first could impact spoilers in a way that puts a damper on demand to see the film in the US Alternatively, it’s been so long since studios released a major film, and people could be anxious to see anything cool once it’s safe to go to the theaters again.
Warner Bros. is still waiting for the go-ahead to release “Tenet” in China, the world’s second-largest movie market. Initially, there was concern that “Tenet” would not be able to leak there. When theaters in the country began to reopen, exhibitors were unable to play movies that lasted more than two hours, and “Tenet” recorded just over 2 hours and 30 minutes. But movie theater owners have recently reserved “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” “Inception,” and other older titles with long run times, suggesting China has either relaxed or does not plan to enforce the restriction.
Nolan is a vocal advocate for movie theaters and has always hoped that “Tenet” could be a saving grace for theaters after lengthy stops that started in March. But his posture has become increasingly complicated. In the US, most places are still closed, as experts have found that the virus spreads rapidly within confined spaces, such as movie theaters, restaurants, and churches. Exhibitors have based their schedules to reopen around “Tenet,” and ordering concessions, re-hiring employees, and taking steps to comply with the coronavirus is an expensive feat. Nolan has spoken out in support of theater owners during the pandemic, but they have expressed frustrations privately that they are losing money every time they prepare to resume business, only to have “Tenet” delay its release date.
It is unknown if the latest date will stick, but if it does, “Tenet” will be the first big tentacle to be released in theaters since the pandemic. “Tenet” has been delayed three times since it was originally slated to debut in July. Given the rapidly changing nature of the global health crisis, these plans could remain fluid if the situation worsens. Studios have continued to adapt and modify theater plans as closings continue. In recent days, Disney removed “Mulan” from its calendar, and Paramount moved “A Quiet Place 2” from this Labor Day weekend to April 2021.
