‘Tenet’ Release Delayed Indefinitely, Disney’s ‘Mulan’ to Follow?

As expected, Warner Bros. has delayed Christopher Nolan's “Tenet” release again and this time for an indefinite period, crashing the hopes of the industry at a time when movie theaters had hoped to peg their re-opening to the late summer debut of Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller. “Tenet” was originally scheduled to debut on July 17 but was pushed back to Aug. 12.

U.S. major circuits are still closed in New York and Los Angeles due to coronavirus. Warner Bros is now prepping the film for an unconventional and flexible theatrical rollout, which won’t be a global day-and-date or traditional movie release that was expected.

“We will share a new 2020 release date imminently for Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s wholly original and mind-blowing feature,” said Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich in a statement. “We are not treating Tenet like a traditional global day-and-date release, and our upcoming marketing and distribution plans will reflect that.”

“Our goals throughout this process have been to ensure the highest odds of success for our films while also being ready to support our theater partners with new content as soon as they could safely reopen,” Emmerich said. “We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from exhibitors and remain steadfast in our commitment to the theatrical experience around the world. Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to proliferate, causing us to reevaluate our release dates.”

Warner Bros. shelled out $200 million to produce “Tenet,” not including hefty marketing fees, meaning it’s no small gamble to unveil the film to the masses.

It will be interesting to see how the other major studios which had movies around Tenet will respond. Disney “Mulan” remake was slated to debuted in theaters on July 24 which as of now hitting the big screen on Aug. 21. But is it possible for Disney to hold on that schedule as coronavirus cases are still on rise and the big markets which is US and India are currently seeing a big surge in the no. of cases? Disney may also opt the same strategy by going with a more flexible release instead of a traditional movie release. As china is opening and other european countries as well, so it won't be a bad idea to open the film internationally first instead of a home release.

Warner Bros. also announced that “The Conjuring 3” has been postponed to June 4, 2021. The eighth entry in Warner Bros.’ horror franchise was schedule to debut in theaters on Sept. 11. However, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” was supposed to have additional shoots scheduled for April. Since production across the globe hasn’t been able to resume, it wouldn’t be ready in time for its target release date.