Tenet is now finally hitting theaters, I think. The very expected Christopher Nolan film was supposed to save the summer film season, but it did not, because life is an endless nightmare. Instead, the film will now open internationally next week before perhaps – just maybe – opening in select American theaters the following week. And just in case you bought it all “this movie will save theaters!” angle driven by some, just knows this: Warner Bros. now requires 63% of the Tenet box office from theaters, a much higher figure than theater chains are accustomed to.
While Tenet remained pressed around the calendar of the release date, a story emerged that Warner Bros. and company were really hope all fail in the name of saving the theater sector. To be honest, Warner Bros. said. and Christopher Nolan never explicitly stated this out loud – it was just something everyone crossed, whether it had to be through osmosis or some unexplined phenomenon. But now we can probably put that line of thinking to bed.
IndieWire reveals that Warner Bros. sent a letter to theaters stating that they must not only follow local laws (which makes sense), but also add safety standards set by the National Association of Theater Owners, adding:
Exhibitors specifically represent and warrant to Warner that he will comply at all times with all applicable laws and regulations in their theater (s), including without limitation, all laws, orders and standards regarding public health and safety, as well as rules and safeguards against cohesion and dissemination of COVID-19 as other diseases and applicable voluntary health and safety measures and protocols relating to these matters as may be promulgated by the Exposure Sector, such as the published NATO health and safety protests.
So far, so good, right? This is all sensible. But here’s where things get complicated: rent Tenet, theaters need Warner Bros. 63% of all weeks of the film’s involvement. That is higher than normal, and more often than not theaters have dealt with studios that “include pre-set expectations for how much they will pay based on the total domestic gross.”
Of course, Warner Bros. here the charge. Theaters are desperate to reopen and reopen new movies, not just movies that have already come and gone. En Tenet is the first major new release in months. In other words, even though theaters are crawling at these figures, they will more than likely be content to roll things out.
Tenet opens in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2020, and the United States op September 3, 2020, in IMAX, 35 mm, and 70 mm. Tickets go on sale on August 21, for three days with sneak previews starting on Monday, August 31.
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