Due to global health concerns well over 50 planned theatrical release dates have been shifted to later dates due to movie theater closures and Hollywood productions around the world being at a standstill since March. For many movie fans, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet has become the light at the end of the tunnel. Until Friday’s delay announcement, the Warner Bros release has long held at its mid-July date, giving cinephiles an experience worth holding out going to the movies for.
Although Tenet will now officially be released on July 31 instead of July 17, it’s still positioned to be one of the first major movies to bring audiences back to the multiplexes – just behind Disney’s live-action Mulan the weekend before. One of the film’s stars Kenneth Branagh recently explained to CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast why it’s the perfect comeback movie for theaters:
Yes, I think everybody would love it to be the picture that we come back to the movies with, I think, because it celebrates what the boldest and bravest moviemaking can be. Images designed for a big screen, designed for a communal audience to enjoy, where part of the experience is the group experience of that kind of story. If ever any picture had a chance of flying back with a flag raised saying, ‘Isn’t cinema great?’ I’d like to think this one is.
Films including Scoob!, The King of Staten Island and Branagh’s latest directorial project Artemis Fowl ended up skipping their theatrical dates and heading straight to homes. But regarding Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, there’s never been a question as to whether it would hit theaters, just when.
Fans will have to wait a bit longer to see the filmmaker’s follow-up to Best Picture nominee Dunkirk but, as Branagh says, it’ll be a fitting return to the theatrical experience. The movie is Nolan’s most ambitious work yet, reportedly costing over $200 million to make and, according to the writer/director, it will push the spy genre to “interesting and unexpected territory.”
Kenneth Branagh teased Tenet, spoke about his latest flick Artemis Fowl now on Disney+ and spoke about his work on Thor and the upcoming Death on the Nile in the latest episode of ReelBlend. Check it out below and subscribe:
Tenet was moved to the end of July by Warner Bros to make room for the studio’s re-release of Inception, just in time for it’s 10th anniversary and perhaps to buy theaters time to get back up and running next month. AMC Theaters announced this week that it would be officially opening its doors back up in July, but Tenet’s two-week shift could allow for more a widespread launch for the film.
Warner Bros’ other huge summer release Wonder Woman 1984 was also moved back in response to Tenet’s on Friday. Patty Jenkins’ sequel will now hit theaters on October 2, 2020. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more news on this year’s release dates as updates come our way.
