This has come out of left field! Christopher Nolan is reteaming with Warner Bros. for a theatrical re-release of Tenet. Beginning on February 23rd, it’ll play in IMAX and 70mm theaters as part of the build-up to Dune: Part Two on March 1st, with exclusive footage from Denis Villeneuve’s sequel attached.
Surprising news, indeed! Nolan famously parted ways with Warner Bros, his longtime studio home, in the aftermath of Tenet‘s release in 2020. Initially, WB had planned to open the film in July, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was repeatedly delayed and nearly opened in streaming, something Nolan fought hard against. Ultimately, it was released into theaters on September 3rd and earned just $365M against a $200M+ budget. The film was a bust, but due to the lack of releases that year it still ended up the fifth highest-grossing of 2020.
Following Tenet‘s struggles, Warner Bros. announced that it would simultaneously release all of its remaining 2020 and 2021 into theaters and streaming. Nolan pushed back on this hard, and decided to leave the studio for Universal where he would work on Oppenheimer, which just earned 13 Oscar nominations.
The beef between Nolan and WB has cooled, though, and now they are working together on this Tenet re-release.
“Seeing the way audiences responded to our large format presentations of “Oppenheimer,” I’m thrilled that Warner Bros. is giving audiences a chance to see “Tenet” the way it was intended to be seen, on the largest IMAX and large format film screens, and I’m honored to have our movie warm up the film projectors for Denis’ jaw-dropping “Dune: Part Two,”” said Nolan.
Tenet stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Elizabeth Debicki in the story of a CIA agent who uncovers a vast shadowy conspiracy as objects from the future begin arriving into the present.
I was one of the few who ventured out to theaters to screen Tenet in the midst of the pandemic. It was not a worthwhile trip, as the film was bloated, poorly mixed, and sorta dull. But at least I got to chat with Nolan and Washington, so it wasn’t all for nothing. I’m admittedly very curious to see it again now, as I might be in a better frame of mind and not in a total panic.
