Tenet

[Nick]

You gotta wonder how many more times WB will play this "delay every two weeks" game. Just bite the bullet and push it back a couple of months instead of constantly getting people's hopes crushed.

I think once they pushed it back originally (and moved Wonder Woman, Godzilla v. Kong, etc) it was in anticipation that Tenet may have to move to August and I think they still can use the November date for another push back if needed. Gotta wonder if Mulan will hold on to that July 24th date.

 

[belloq87]

Curious choice to now open on a Wednesday.

 

[Nick]

Curious choice to now open on a Wednesday.

You've gotta wonder what Bill & Ted 3 does now. They moved up to August 14th once Wonder Woman moved, but now with Tenet there, it's not that enticing of a date anymore.

 

[belloq87]

Drop back to the 21st. NEW MUTANTS is the following week, but I don't see that as major competition.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I kinda hope it stays at 8/12–pretty rare that something good comes out on my birthday weekend.

 

[TheGentTrent]

This article kind of gives us a little more clarity why WB isn't delaying this for a couple of months. Nolan is the one pushing really hard for it to be the first film back in theaters and the studio is trying their best to keep their golden child happy.

'Tenet' Release Date Updates: Will The Movie Be Pushed Further? [UPDATE] - SlashFilm

Christopher Nolan is reportedly hesitant to delay Tenet's release by months because he wants to show faith in movie theaters.

www.slashfilm.com

I can see where Warner Bros is coming from though. In its current release date, analysts are currently predicting that the film will only pull in a $30 million domestic opening weekend. Since Nolan reportedly has a deal for 20% first dollar gross, he'll come out of this making money regardless of how it performs. But with a $200+ million dollar budget (for a non-franchise film no less), those kind of numbers would be a bloodbath for WB.

 

[Jamesh22]

This article kind of gives us a little more clarity why WB isn't delaying this for a couple of months. Nolan is the one pushing really hard for it to be the first film back in theaters and the studio is trying their best to keep their golden child happy.

'Tenet' Release Date Updates: Will The Movie Be Pushed Further? [UPDATE] - SlashFilm

Christopher Nolan is reportedly hesitant to delay Tenet's release by months because he wants to show faith in movie theaters.

www.slashfilm.com

I can see where Warner Bros is coming from though. In its current release date, analysts are currently predicting that the film will only pull in a $30 million domestic opening weekend. Since Nolan reportedly has a deal for 20% first dollar gross, he'll come out of this making money regardless of how it performs. But with a $200+ million dollar budget (for a non-franchise film no less), those kind of numbers would be a bloodbath for WB.

Maybe we will see a return to movies with better legs, so the opening weekend is less important? :shrug:

 

[Legacy]

I’m curious what the expected gross for this film was even before the theater closures. There really is nothing about the film, from what I’ve seen, that makes me want to see it (and most of what I watch is sci-fi).

 

[TheGentTrent]

Maybe we will see a return to movies with better legs, so the opening weekend is less important? :shrug:

The problem with that is the rest of the year is heavily stacked with movies so far. A week after Tenet opens, you have Mulan. And a week after that, Bill & Ted and New Mutants. The way everything is set up right now, you have a tentpole film basically coming out every week. And with so many families and people facing financial uncertainty, they're gonna be a lot more selective about the films they drop $20+ to see, if they can even afford to see any at all.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

I’m curious what the expected gross for this film was even before the theater closures. There really is nothing about the film, from what I’ve seen, that makes me want to see it (and most of what I watch is sci-fi).

Dunkirk and Interstellar both made just under 190M domestically, so I imagine that was where general expectations were if not higher due to the 200M budget. Dunkirk was solely marketed on Nolan's name with little focus on the cast compared to Interstellar which had McConaughey and Hathaway fresh off Oscar wins, so I doubt an Inception-like opening was ever expected. If the movie's good, legs can be strong.

 

[Legacy]

The problem with that is the rest of the year is heavily stacked with movies so far. A week after Tenet opens, you have Mulan. And a week after that, Bill & Ted and New Mutants. The way everything is set up right now, you have a tentpole film basically coming out every week. And with so many families and people facing financial uncertainty, they're gonna be a lot more selective about the films they drop $20+ to see, if they can even afford to see any at all.

This is a good point. If I have $20 have to choose ONLY 1 of Tenet, Mulan, or Bill and Ted, Tenet is likely going to become a common third choice.

 

[Nick]

Hot take: This movie will not open this year. I don’t think Movie Theaters in general are opening this year.

 

[Clive]

Hot take: This movie will not open this year. I don’t think Movie Theaters are opening this year.

I'm beginning to agree with you.

 

[belloq87]

Hot take: This movie will not open this year. I don’t think Movie Theaters in general are opening this year.

I'm not saying I necessarily think you're wrong, but I'm curious what conditions you think would allow them to reopen. Because hitting January 1st 2021 doesn't mean a switch is suddenly flipped, either, and I just can't see the entire industry waiting another 7 - 9 months (in the very best case) for an effective vaccine to have been administered to hundreds of millions of people in this country.

I honestly think that if (and this is still a big if, but I'm an optimist) some of the antiviral/antibody drugs prove fairly effective at reducing illness and death (which we're going to know by the end of the summer for at least a couple of them), and are in the medical arsenal in the fall, a much more "normal" (though not fully normal, of course) version of public social life could be able to resume, including going to the movies.

 

[Nick]

I'm not saying I necessarily think you're wrong, but I'm curious what conditions you think would allow them to reopen. Because hitting January 1st 2021 doesn't mean a switch is suddenly flipped, either, and I just can't see the entire industry waiting another 7 - 9 months (in the very best case) for an effective vaccine to have been administered to hundreds of millions of people in this country.

I honestly think that if (and this is still a big if, but I'm an optimist) some of the antiviral/antibody drugs prove fairly effective at reducing illness and death (which we're going to know by the end of the summer for at least a couple of them), and are in the medical arsenal in the fall, a much more "normal" (though not fully normal, of course) version of public social life could be able to resume, including going to the movies.

I don’t know what the conditions would be, but movies continuously getting pushed back isn’t helping anything and industry insiders are starting to believe this Will be the case more and more.

Many things will likely be moved to PVOD again if August reopening doesn’t happen. Bill & Ted and New Mutants Key among those to move.

 

[Clive]

I don’t know what the conditions would be, but movies continuously getting pushed back isn’t helping anything and industry insiders are starting to believe this Will be the case more and more.

Many things will likely be moved to PVOD again if August reopening doesn’t happen. Bill & Ted and New Mutants Key among those to move.

One of the most trusted, plugged-in Hollywood insiders I read has pretty much declared 2020 a wash for theatrical.

 

[Nick]

One of the most trusted, plugged-in Hollywood insiders I read has pretty much declared 2020 a wash for theatrical.

Yeah, Even if theaters open and a movie releases, it won't make nearly as much money as it otherwise would have. That's why so many movies are pushing to 2021 because they want to be in the post-vaccine timeline and when people will start feeling safe going out to these types of things again.

 

[Tbad556]

That's certainly a choice.

‘Tenet’ Will Release Internationally in August Ahead of U.S. Debut

"Tenet" has set a new release date.

variety.com

Will debut internationally on Aug. 26 before opening in select cities in North America on Sept. 4.

The movie is launching at the end of August in 70 international territories, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United Kingdom. The studio does not have plans yet to release “Tenet” in China.

 

[Nick]

That's certainly a choice.

‘Tenet’ Will Release Internationally in August Ahead of U.S. Debut

"Tenet" has set a new release date.

variety.com

This was expected. WB has stated it won't go on-demand and domestic is out of the question right now. It cna't play in China because China has a strict 2 hour maximum they are allowing for movie length. Tenet is 2.5 hours. A slow rollout is needed. Much of the world can have movie theaters open right now. The US just can't with where we're at.

I think Mulan may take a similar approach.

 

[belloq87]

I think this is really the best option. Let the movie play where it can.

Spoiler-phobes (which I consider myself for this film, certainly) will just need to tread carefully until they can see it. There's a drive-in about an hour away from me, and I'll absolutely make the trip if WB allows the movie to screen in those venues in September.