Things are going from bad to worse for the movie theater industry. Warner Bros. has announced that Christopher Nolan’s time-bending action thriller, Tenet, has been delayed from August 12 to an undisclosed date. That’s terrible news for cinema chains, which had hinged their grand re-opening on what was supposed to be one of 2020’s biggest summer blockbusters.
“We will share a new 2020 release date imminently for Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s wholly original and mind-blowing feature,” said Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich in a statement to Variety. “We are not treating Tenet like a traditional global day-and-date release, and our upcoming marketing and distribution plans will reflect that.”
“Our goals throughout this process have been to ensure the highest odds of success for our films while also being ready to support our theater partners with new content as soon as they could safely reopen,” Emmerich said. “We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from exhibitors and remain steadfast in our commitment to the theatrical experience around the world. Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to proliferate, causing us to reevaluate our release dates.”
Should Nolan and Warner Bros. just give in and make Tenet a digital release? That’s what some fans seem to want, but it would probably never happen in a million years, judging by Nolan’s obsession with the cinematic experience.