Warner Brothers

Last week, Warner Brothers removed Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ from its release schedule, promising to announce new plans “imminenty.”  That time has come.  WB announced that ‘Tenet’ will begin rolling out in 70 countries on Wednesday, August 26.  That does not include the United States.  We won’t get it until September 3, and that’s only in places where it is deemed safe by the local government.

AMC has announced plans for a company-wide reopening in mid-August, but once again, that will be determined by local government.  It is expected that theaters that do reopen will limit capacities and enforce social distancing and mask rules.

Due to the limit on audiences, WB is hoping that ‘Tenet’ will enjoy a longer theatrical run than normal, as filmgoers trickle in over time.

Nations getting ‘Tenet’ on Wednesday, August 26 are: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the UK.

‘Tenet’ will open on Thursday, August 27 in: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, New Zealand, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.

On Friday, August 28, the following countries will get it: East Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Vietnam will go.

In addition to the US, Kuwait and Qatar will get ‘Tenet’ on September 3.  Azerbaijan, CIS Others, Kazakhstan, and Russia will get the film on September 10.  It will open in Japan on September 18. 

It appears that in China, movies cannot be over two hours long.  (This is the first I’ve ever heard of that.)  It seems that is being relaxed for not only ‘Tenet’, but a rerelease of Nolan’s ‘Inception’.  ‘Inception’ is scheduled to open in China on August 21, but so far, it isn’t on WB’s schedule to receive ‘Tenet’.

Also not yet scheduled are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Uruguay, and Venezuela.  It appears that COVID-19 is just now hitting the Latin American countries and is still on the climb, with two million cases so far reported in Brazil.

Of course, all of this is tentative and could change.

Every studio has been keeping an eye on ‘Tenet’ as it has long been considered the guinea pig that would determine whether it was safe and profitable enough to release a major film in theaters.  Now that WB seems to have locked it in, expect more studios to start shuffling their schedules.  Just last week, Orion staked out Tuesday, September 1 for the release of ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’.  It will be a theatrical and PVOD release.  But now, with “Tenet’ opening just two days later, it wouldn’t be surprising if Orion changed plans again, moving ‘Bill & Ted’ either up or (more likely) back a week or two.

In the US, Monday, September 7 is Labor Day, making that a holiday weekend, which could increase demand.  Then again, with COVID-19, all rules are out the window.  We’ll have to wait and see how this goes.

 

Source: Deadline