Tenet director Christopher Nolan defends giving the film a big screen theatrical release. Nolan's latest has been at the center of many discussions during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. For the longest time, Tenet remained in its original July 17 release date, poised to be the first major studio tentpole to welcome audiences back to the theaters after months of lockdown. However, Tenet's premiere was recently delayed and it is now set to debut on July 31. The change forced other alterations to Warner Bros.' release schedule, as Wonder Woman 1984 was pushed back again.
Due to all the uncertainty surrounding movie theaters and when they'll reopen, studios have turned to other avenues to distribute their films. Projects like Trolls World Tour, Scoob, and The King of Staten Island all bypassed a traditional theatrical release and went straight to on-demand. But ever since the pandemic took a turn for the worse over the spring, the expectation has been the big-budget offerings like Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984 would be saved for the theater. Now, Nolan's explaining why that's the proper method for Tenet's release.
Per Deadline, Nolan recorded a message for CineEurope 2020, where he provided an update on Tenet and teased what's in store for viewers. In particular, he hyped the movie's talented cast and ambitious scope:
“We’re in the final throes of it. 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. 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. 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.”
Nolan's helmed some of the most daring and innovative blockbusters of the 21st century, so for him to speak so highly of Tenet is intriguing. The Tenet trailers have hinted at a story that's as mind-bending and bold as cinephiles have come to expect from Nolan, introducing the concept of time inversion. Even Tenet's stars aren't sure how to fully describe it, so it will be interesting for viewers to try to piece the puzzle together. Nolan's long been a champion of the theatrical experience, so it isn't surprising to hear he made Tenet with that large canvas in mind. As he's done in the past, Nolan made use of IMAX cameras, ensuring the film has plenty of visually-stunning spectacle to complement the heady narrative. Just about everyone is in agreement Tenet should be seen in a theater - there's just the question of when.
That is proving to be a very complicated topic for a number of reasons. As states begin to loosen stay-home orders and reopen, coronavirus cases are increasing in some areas, which could make people even more cautious about rushing back to the theater in July. Tenet also cost $200 million to produce, meaning WB needs it to be a massive box office hit in order to turn a profit. In a normal year, that likely wouldn't be an issue (Nolan is a big enough draw to sell an original film), but the circumstances in 2020 could present a problem for the studio. They need a majority of the world's theaters to be reopen and posting robust attendance numbers in order to justify releasing Tenet in the midst of a pandemic. Again, nobody's denying Tenet is built for the big screen, but it might be better if Nolan was a little more open to moving it out of July.
Source: Deadline
