Tenet Delayed to August Due to COVID-19 Surges

Christopher Nolan’s Tenet has been delayed to a mid-August release due to the COVID-19 cases spiking across America. So, instead of July 31st, Tenet will hit theaters on August 12th. Warner Bros. announced the news today and now experts are expecting Disney to follow suit and postpone Mulan for later in the summer. Some had already began wondering if the film would make its date as theaters were trying to navigate the reopening landscape. This is a big blow for cinema chains like Regal, Cinemark, AMC and others as Tenet was one of the few new movies that would premiere in theaters as the gates opened up. However, most of those companies already have plans to re-release old classics and crowd-pleasers to fill the seats. It remains to be seen how that strategy will work out for them. A Warner Bros. studio spokesperson delivered this statement.

“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,” the statement reads. “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.”

Recently, Nolan was adding flames to the fire among his fans who have no idea what Tenet is about or what secrets it holds. Everything has been shrouded in mystery.

“I don’t want to say too much about it other than we’re extraordinarily excited about what we’ve been able to do with this material,” Nolan told CineEurope participants after the first delay. “I think of all the films that I’ve made, this is perhaps the one that is most designed for the audience experience, the big screen experience. This is a film whose image and sound really needs to be enjoyed in your theaters on the big screen and we’re very, very excited for you to see what it is we’ve done. We’ve made big films in the past, but this is a film whose global reach and level of action is beyond anything we’ve ever attempted before. I think we only would have been able to pull off this film with the level of experience we’ve had doing action films in the past.”

He continued, “The movie has an incredible ensemble cast led by John David Washington who gives the most extraordinary and iconic performance as the protagonist at the heart of Tenet and I cannot wait for you guys to see what he’s done with his character. I’m very much looking forward to sharing the film with you. I’m going to get back to finishing it right now and I look forward to your reaction.”

Do you think any of the summer’s movies will make their new release dates? Let us know in the comments!