Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ Pushed Back Two Weeks as Movie Theaters Ready to Reopen

Christoper Nolan’s Tenet, perhaps the most anticipated film of the pre-pandemic 2020 summer movie season, has pushed back its release two weeks as nationwide movie theater chains prepare to reopen their doors.

Tenet was long scheduled to arrive on July 17th, 2020, but will now be released on July 31st. Warner Bros. also announced they will instead rerelease Nolan’s Inception to theaters on July 17th to mark that blockbuster’s 10th anniversary, Variety reports.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closures of movie theaters nationwide and uprooted nearly every film with a summer release date — forcing many, including this weekend’s The King of Staten Island, to video-on-demand or streaming — Tenet remained steadfast to its July 17th release date, which the movie theater industry rallied around as a beacon of hope for their reopening.

However, the most recent Tenet trailer didn’t reiterate the July 17th release date, making it clear the film’s arrival date was in flux. Earlier this week, AMC Entertainment announced plans to open theaters nationwide in July as early as July 10th, when Sony’s Selena Gomez-starring The Broken Hearts Gallery is scheduled to hit theaters. Disney’s Mulan is also currently scheduled for July 24th, the first major film release to test theaters’ coronavirus measures.

“We’re especially thrilled, in this complex and rapidly changing environment, to be bringing Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, a global tentpole of jaw-dropping size, scope and scale, to theaters around the world on July 31,” Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said in a statement Friday.

“It’s been longer than any of us could’ve imagined since we’ve seen a movie on the big screen, and to acknowledge Chris’ fans as we count down to Tenet‘s opening day, we are also excited to offer his masterpiece Inception in theaters for its 10th anniversary on July 17.”

While Tenet was only pushed two weeks, Warner Bros announced that the Wonder Woman sequel WW84 would be postponed again, from August 14th to October 2nd; the movie originally held a June 5th, 2020 release date.