Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has had his finger on the pulse of cinema, consistently getting audiences to show up for his films. However, with the recent release of Tenet, Nolan has managed to misinterpret Hollywood’s reaction to not just his film, but also to the current realities of cinema in a world ravaged by COVID-19. The persistence of the pandemic makes many aspects of filmmaking difficult, but Nolan seems reluctant to accept the lessons that have been learned in terms of the theatrical experience.

Back in March of 2020, Covid was just beginning to make its impact felt across the world. At that time, few could have imagined the trouble the pandemic would cause for Hollywood and the entertainment industry as a whole. Despite production after production shutting down, and cinemas closing their doors, many people felt things would get back to normal again sooner rather than later. There would be plenty of financial damage to deal with, but the idea of cinemas closing their doors forever seemed a very distant possibility. After all, there were many big summer blockbusters set to be released and chief among them was Tenet. Previous Nolan films had all been big draws, and Tenet, with its mysterious plot and extensive practical effects, seemed like a savior to cinemas and Hollywood.

Related: What's The Next Movie To Release In Theaters?

Unfortunately, Tenet’s arrival failed to reach expectations. Despite generally positive reviews, Nolan's eleventh feature film got off to a dismal start in the U.S. and never recovered. After delays to its release, the film was said to need to bring in somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 million to break even, but Tenet only brought in $350 million to date. As it gradually became clear people simply weren’t turning up to theatres in significant enough numbers, studios began pushing bigger releases initially planned for the holiday season into 2021 slots, or selling them to streaming platforms. Yet despite this obvious sea change in how films are released and what the current climate for them is like, Nolan thinks Tenet showed a way forward for the industry and Hollywood can use its release to learn how to profit from movies in a post-COVID world.

Tenet-Theaters

The sad truth is that in terms of recouping its budget, there’s no denying that Tenet is a failure. It’s highly unlikely that the film is going to hit the $500 million mark at this point, which makes its estimated $205 million budget a millstone around the necks of investors. There are certain to be many fans who completely disagree with the film’s status as a failure, but that’s a subjective issue. When it comes to Hollywood’s cut and dry financial model, Tenet has proven unprofitable, and that cinemas can’t be resuscitated by big-budget releases.

From Nolan’s point of view, however, Hollywood isn’t paying attention to what worked in Tenet, arguing that it holds the answers to a new form of cinema that will better cater to the theatrical experience. It’s an optimistic theory, but ultimately an incorrect one. Tenet does have some spectacular visual experiences, and maybe there are lessons for how Hollywood can adapt its budgets and release models to survive the current climate. Unfortunately, the big screen experience he's fighting for is largely due to big budgets, and the kind of adaptation he's referring to would find him in direct competition with streaming, which is both cheaper and easier for consumers with none of the health concerns they may have about going to a theater.

In this sense, Nolan is deluding himself. Perhaps it’s due to an unwillingness to concede that his film didn't save the theatrical experience like he'd hoped, or, perhaps his love for the cinema – something many film fans around the world can relate to - is making him overly idealistic. Watching the pandemic slowly squeeze the life out of the theatrical release model is hard to bear, but at this point it seems almost inevitable. If theaters ever get the chance to rebuild, Nolan’s vision for the future could be an excellent starting point; However, as things currently stand, if the spectacle of Tenet couldn’t outweigh the fears of Covid, there’s no secret formula or restructuring that can change that.

Next: Tenet: Why The Reviews Are So Mixed