I’m feeling optimsitic about catching Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” within the next 12 days or so, I can’t say more than that, but I’ve been emailing around and, suffice to say, things are looking very good for its late August release. I am here to tell you that, after a few exchanges, constant back-and-forth emailing, the WB is very serious in releasing this movie in Europe and Canada by August 26th. It’s going to happen, the only thing that may murk up these plans is if a second wave of the virus happens in Europe and, at the moment, there is speculation that a second-wave could happen, but, as of today, European and Canadian theater chains should rejoice because the WB is getting ready to screen “Tenet.”
An anonymous source close to the WB emailed me back saying “There is no doubt in my mind that you will be seeing “Tenet” before fall hits. As you can imagine, we are very frustrated by the constant delays that have happened but are now in full-blown release mode for the film. The support and backing we have gotten from European chains these last few weeks has been overwhelming, they are ready to watch this movie and so is the rest of the world. As far as we’re concerned, there’s no going back and Chris (Nolan) is very excited to finally unveil his latest masterpiece.”
As for the United States, the situation is murkier, but not a lost cause (“Tenet” is set for release in the U.S. on September 3rd). New York and California are maintaining their lockdowns with movie theaters completely closed in those states, but the WB is still very adamant at releasing “Tenet” in the rest of the United States, all this despite the two biggest markets (New York City and Los Angeles) being completely shut out from the theatrical rollout. This will no doubt bring a lot of pressure on Governors Cuomo and Newsom, the two adamantly strict head honchos of both states have not been willing to reopen movie theaters ever since the pandemic began in March.
New York is the epicenter of the world for the COVID-19 virus, that is if you believe China’s claims that they’ve only had 80,000 cases since March (of course, its total B.S). Speaking of China, they are refusing to screen “Tenet” because they deem the running time (150 minutes) too risky during a pandemic, they have actually asked Nolan and the WB to snip 30 minutes of the film so that it can be shown there. Yeah, good luck with that, not happening.
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond on “Tenet”
“Several people at Imax were involved with Tenet at the post-production phase. Their reaction was, ‘Oh my God – I forgot how great it was to be in a movie.’ Tenet is just a beautifully filmed, beautifully made, wonderful movie...
Also according to the IMAX CEO:
"Unlike Dunkirk, which was a European-centric movie, Tenet is a more traditional action thriller blockbuster with the potential for wider appeal".
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.