Tenet is on the move again. It has just been announced that Warner Bros. is shifting the film off of July 31 & moving to a new release date of August 12.
This move also pushes Christopher Nolan’s 10th-anniversary reissue of Inception from July 17 (Tenet’s first original launch date) to July 31. The decision to move Tenet again comes in the wake of COVID-19 cases spiking to a new national high of 45K yesterday, and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent decision to completely move movie theaters reopening out of Phase 4. Also, to date, Los Angeles County has yet to give its OK for movie theaters to reopen after the California Department of Public Health issued its guidelines for reopening two weeks ago. A Warner Bros. spokesperson had this to say about the decision:
“Warner Bros. is committed to bringing Tenet to audiences in theaters, on the big screen, when exhibitors are ready and public health officials say it’s time. In this moment what we need to be is flexible, and we are not treating this as a traditional movie release. We are choosing to open the movie mid-week to allow audiences to discover the film in their own time, and we plan to play longer, over an extended play period far beyond the norm, to develop a very different yet successful release strategy.”
The rumblings of Tenet making a move began long before the film made its first one. Many thought it wouldn’t make the July 17 date but Warner Bros. stuck to it as long as they did for Christopher Nolan, who has fought to get the film out as originally intended. When the film moved to July 31, it felt like the best-case scenario because at least the move wasn’t too far out. Even after that move, there were more whispers the film could move again because despite the three big theater brands making moves to reopen by mid-July (AMC, Regal & Cinemark) certain lucrative box office locations like Los Angeles & New York City, have yet to give the go-ahead for their theater locations to start opening. Most of the decision comes down to these two box office markets & if they still aren’t open by August 12, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tenet moved again.
Oddly enough Tenet opens on a date when the summer box office is normally calming down. This is how crazy this pandemic has made the 2020 release schedule & box office. Wonder Woman 1984 was going to open August 14 after moving from June but that film shifted to October 2 two weeks ago. Tenet essentially has the box office to itself in August. The Russell Crowe road rage thriller Unhinged is still opening July 10 while Mulan is still dated for July 24 but don’t be surprised if Disney moves that film within the next few days. Like Tenet, Mulan has a $200 million budget on the line & it needs the major movie theater markets to be open as well. Actually, per Deadline, they wouldn’t be surprised if Unhinged, A24’s Saint Maud, and Sony/Tri-Star’s Broken Hearts Gallery on July 17 also shifted & they think the same could happen to UAR/Orion’s Bill & Ted Face the Music on August 14.
R.I.P. summer box office. Just don’t move New Mutants off August 28. It has been through enough.
