Christopher Nolan pushed for Tenet to receive an extended theatrical release instead of a traditional Oscar campaign. Over the course of his career, Nolan's been a notable Oscar snub on more than one occasion (The Dark Knight being the most infamous example), but he's also earned five nominations. His most recent nods came for Best Picture and Best Director for Dunkirk. He also earned Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay nominations for Inception, a rare sci-fi/genre title to gain traction at the award shows. Nolan has yet to win an Academy Award.

Because Nolan has a handful of nominations to his name, some were curious to see if his latest effort, Tenet, could become a contender on this year's Oscar circuit. Tenet entered 2020 as one of the year's most-anticipated films and was one of the few big-budget titles to still come out in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Despite the high-profile nature of the project, Tenet only landed a pair of crafts nominations at the 2021 Oscars: Best Visual Effects and Best Production Design. It was arguably surprising to see it come away with just two, and it sounds like Nolan had something to do with that.

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According to IndieWire, Nolan put in a request to Warner Bros. to invest more money in extending Tenet's theatrical release, rather than using those resources to put together an Oscar campaign. As a result, the studio gave drama Judas and the Black Messiah their big awards push. WB didn't lobby for Tenet at all, bypassing traditional methods such as For Your Consideration ads and screeners. This did put members of the Tenet crew at a disadvantage, as composer Ludwig Göransson and the Double Negative VFX team were left to their own devices to campaign for nominations.

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It's unusual for a director to ask his own film doesn't receive an Oscar campaign, but Nolan's request does make sense. Even if there was an outside chance of Tenet scoring nominations in major categories like Best Picture and Best Director, it isn't the kind of film that typically does well with Academy voters. First and foremost, it was a spectacle-driven mind-bender designed to be seen on the biggest of screens. Nolan has long been a champion of the theatrical experience and has been vocal supporting multiplexes throughout the pandemic. Taking an overview of the situation, Nolan probably realized extending Tenet's release (it's now playing in newly reopened New York and Los Angeles theaters) was a better use of the money, as it gave struggling theaters another big title to show. Putting the necessary funds into a Tenet Oscar campaign likely would have been a fruitless endeavor.

WB focusing more on Judas and the Black Messiah proved to be a smart decision. That film earned six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and a pair of Best Supporting Actor nods for stars Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield. The former is the frontrunner in the category, having already won the Golden Globe. It stands reason to believe Judas and the Black Messiah will take home at least one trophy on Oscar Sunday. As for Tenet, there's still a chance it wins something. Nolan's Inception and Interstellar both earned Best Visual Effects, so Tenet could find success there.

Next: How Nolan's Inception Reveals Tenet's Biggest Flaw

Source: IndieWire