The prologue to Christopher Nolan‘s film Tenet will screen in IMAX theaters. Beginning with The Dark Knight, Nolan has shot every one of his movies (sans Inception) either partially or fully in IMAX. The filmmaker has long expressed his love of the format and how it allows him to paint on a massive canvas, yet tell very personal stories at the same time. As a result, the majority of his recent projects have gotten a special preview for IMAX theaters only, ahead of their general theatrical release.
In the cases of Nolan‘s The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, the movies’ prologues (which ranged from 5-10 minutes of footage) were screened in IMAX. Most recently, in December 2016, a special trailer featuring footage from the filmmaker’s WWII thriller Dunkirk (primarily its first act) premiered in IMAX along with prints of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Now, Nolan‘s latest venture, Tenet, is set to receive a similar IMAX preview attached to the newest installment in the Star Wars saga.
As reported by Trailer-Track, the prologue to Tenet has been rated PG-13 (like all of Nolan‘s movies have been for the past decade) by the MPA, ahead of its premiere in IMAX theaters. The prologue will almost certainly screen with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in IMAX starting in December, around the same time a regular theatrical trailer is likely released.
At this point in his career, Nolan has mastered the art of combining IMAX-worthy spectacle with cerebral storytelling, and the trend should only continue with Tenet. Little to nothing is known about the film’s plot right now, but that too is in keeping with Nolan‘s practices over the last ten years. What little has been revealed suggests Tenet, like Inception, is a globe-trotting thriller with a sci-fi element; possibly even something to do with the manipulation of time, based on the footage in the teaser trailer. Speaking of which: the Tenet teaser was never officially released online, and the prologue is likewise expected to be exclusive to IMAX theaters. Thankfully, though, the full trailer (which isn’t confirmed yet, but expected next month) should be made available to watch at home.
Some have argued the decision to only release Tenet‘s teaser in theaters may’ve hurt the film’s attempts to produce hype and prevented the trailer from generating nearly as much buzz as it could’ve done with a regular rollout. Be that the case or not, the IMAX-only previews were beneficial to the marketing for Nolan‘s previous movies, and Tenet‘s prologue should do the same for it. With Nolan directing a (presumed) sci-fi action movie led by a stellar cast that includes John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Elizabeth Debicki, there’s bound to be a lot of curiosity about this one either way. By kicking off its next wave of promotion with The Rise of Skywalker, Tenet should only get that hype train running faster, and sooner.