That strange beeping sound you can hear is ‘Tenet’ moving back from its global July 31 release date. Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster is now scheduled for worldwide release on August 12 – unusually, a Wednesday opening – after initially being scheduled for July 17 and then moving to July 31.
The recent spike in Covid-19 cases in the US has led studio Warner Bros to rethink the opening, pushing it right to the end of the traditional summer release window.
‘Warner Bros. is committed to bringing “Tenet” to audiences in theaters, on the big screen, when exhibitors are ready and public health officials say it’s time,’ said Warner Bros in a statement. ‘In this moment what we need to be is flexible, and we are not treating this as a traditional movie release. We are choosing to open the movie midweek to allow audiences to discover the film in their own time, and we plan to play longer, over an extended play period far beyond the norm, to develop a very different yet successful release strategy.’
The tenth anniversary re-release of ‘Inception’ has also moved back and now occupies ‘Tenet’s old July 31 release date. Public health concerns are presumably mitigated by the much smaller demand for seats at that one.