When it comes to releasing movies in 2020, it’s perhaps best for studios to just say, “releasing when we can”, rather than trying to pin a date to it. I know it’s important from a marketing and planning perspective to have a date attached that everyone can work towards, but when those dates end up being fluid and inevitably delayed, you’ve got to wonder if they should just stop committing to a schedule until they know the cinemas are open for good.
This is the predicament that Warner Bros and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet move finds itself in as the studio has announced that the release of the highly anticipated film has been delayed yet again, to August 12 (as revealed by The Hollywood Reporter). This comes after the studio recently pushed back the release of the movie from July 17 to July 31. Warner Bros. is now pushing Tenet back by another two weeks, which will likely feel like months to fans eager to see another director Christopher Nolan’s epic which we still know very little about.
This move was announced following the announcement by the state of New York – which has been heaviest hit by Covid-19 in the US – to not open their movie theatres at the same time as other parts of the country and as a result, the studio has moved the release of Tenet to coincide with that State’s new date. Unsurprising considering the massive population of NY State and the impact it will have on overall marketing and box office results. If people are actually prepared to go to theatres that is. I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney follows suit with Mulan moving out as well.
Christopher Nolan is one of my favourite directors and his movies most certainly deserve to be seen on the biggest screens possible. However, I do think that the studio is still being a little too eager with their release dates for the film and might be better off pushing Tenet out to a date that is more realistic. Given everything we’ve seen thus far, I’m not confident they’ll stick with this new release date either.
Last Updated: June 26, 2020
