Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. are working together again. It’s just not on a new project. Not yet, at least. The director’s 2020 film, Tenet, which was released at the absolute nadir of the pandemic and essentially a lamb to the slaughter — at Nolan‘s request, mind you — is being released in theaters for one week, beginning Friday, February 23 ahead of the release of Dune: Part Two the following week — Jeff Sneider first reported the news yesterday, which has now been confirmed.
As a result of the cursed original release date, the movie gave the impression of bombing, at least at the domestic box office. It generated just $58 million domestically with a $365 million global total. During a global pandemic, which was in full flow at the time, that’s still a pretty remarkable tally, but the movie definitely missed out on a lot of money which is why taking advantage of Nolan‘s name being everywhere right now ahead of Oppenheimer‘s impending Oscar glory makes sense for both parties.
After all, the disputed release strategy for Tenet was the biggest issue that led to Nolan and Warner Bros. parting company in the first place. It benefits everyone to repair that, and get heads together to promote the film to give it a fair chance at recouping some money. And let’s not forget, one of its stars, Robert Pattinson, is now an even bigger name than he was before. And he’s in a Warner Bros. movie soon as well, the sequel to Matt Reeves‘ The Batman.
The extra star power definitely won’t hurt any re-release strategy. Although Tenet received more decidedly mixed reviews than a lot of Nolan‘s work, there was still some jaw-dropping action involved, and the film will be well worth seeing on IMAX 70mm for the first time, as is Nolan‘s preferred format of screening films. Let’s just hope, maybe, please, they’ve fixed some of the dialogue audio in the movie. It might make some of the plot make sense!
What Was ‘Tenet’ About?
Tenet is a sci-fi action-thriller, known for its complex plot and innovative exploration of time manipulation. The story revolves around the concept of time inversion, where actions and events can occur in reverse, challenging the traditional flow of time.
The protagonist, simply known as The Protagonist (John David Washington), is a CIA operative who gets recruited by an organization called Tenet. He discovers that the future has found a way to send objects back in time, which move inversely to the regular flow of time. These objects are part of a larger, more sinister plot involving a technology called “inversion.” The Protagonist learns about a coming catastrophe, comparable to World War III, that he must prevent.
Tickets for Tenet are expected to go on sale on Friday, January 26.
via Collider