When Warner Bros. shifted the release date for TENET last Friday, most of us expected a much later date than the newly chosen launch of July 31. Given that most films have been delayed by months due to the movie theater closures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a two week push has to be considered a best case scenario. Everyone seemed to be paying attention to what Warner Bros was going to do with Christopher Nolan's latest film and they were pretty close to pushing it further out on the calendar if they had to.
According to "The New York Times", Warner Bros. considered a new release date beyond July so they could be in the best possible position to recoup their $200 million investment. In the end it came down Christopher Nolan's continued eagerness and the studio's desire to keep him happy.
"In recent weeks, Warner, concerned about its “Tenet” investment, was leaning in favor of postponement, while Mr. Nolan, a fervent advocate for preserving the moviegoing experience, was more eager to press ahead. The discussions amounted to a fraught moment for Warner: Mr. Nolan is a proven moneymaker, and the studio wants to keep him happy."
Warner Bros. is in a very interesting position where they can't 100 percent afford to let TENET be the guinea pig that tests if moviegoers will be ready to go back to the movies when they reopen. Theaters will be playing at limited capacity to start to maintain newly implemented safety protocols that are being put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. TENET could have virtually all of those limited capacity auditoriums to itself and it still presents a risky move. The goal for a tentpole release like this one is to maximize profits and gambling on the willingness of moviegoers to be ready to get back to theater, isn't one you want to take on a film that cost $200 million before factoring in the marketing spend.
Christopher Nolan has always been a huge supporter of the pure cinematic experience and he makes his films first and foremost to be seen on the big screen and with the best sound. Nolan also has a lot of faith in the moviegoing public and that's one of the reasons he didn't want to push off of the original release date. He thinks TENET could be the film that will make movie fans be ready to get back into that communal cinematic experience once again. It's no secret that Nolan has long been fighting to make sure TENET wasn't delayed and, if it was, it wouldn't be by much. He has also been a vocal supporter of movie theaters getting the necessary help they need to stay afloat throughout a pandemic that has seen their doors shuttered since mid-March.
Do YOU think TENET will recoup its $200 million budget? Would it have been smarter to delay the film further or is this the film we need to salvage what's left of the summer box office?