Christopher Nolan Wants His Film TENET To Ignite The Spark of Theaters Reopening
The first big new movie to open in theaters when movie theaters reopen will be Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. The story of the sci-fi espionage thriller is shrouded in secrecy, but the fans are excited to see how the story plays out! Nolan never disappoints, so we know that we are in for a great movie experience!
There’s a lot riding on Tenet, as it could be the spark that re-ignites the movie-going experience. This is something that Christopher Nolan wants, and he’s been pushing for his film to open up on July 17th. While other studios have been running away and pushing the release of their films back several months to a year from now, Nolan is holding his ground along with Disney, who is also releasing Mulan in theaters shortly after Tenet.
Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said on a recent earnings call:
“Chris really would like to be coming out with the film that opens theaters. I don’t know anyone in America who is pushing harder to get the theaters re-opened and to get his movie released than Chris Nolan.”
I love that Nolan wants to welcome audiences back to movie theaters with his film. When previously talking about the importance of movie theaters, Nolan called them a “vital part of social life” that not only provides entertainment but also provides jobs for many people. That must be preserved and he has assured exhibitors that he will do anything he can to help get them back on their feet.
While the studio hopes the film will be a smash hit like Nolan’s other films, we don’t know what the box office take is going to look like because we don’t know how many people are going to feel comfortable returning to theaters in July and movie theaters won’t be packing people into theaters like they used to. But, they will keep the films running in theaters longer than they normally would. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out.
Personally, I think a lot of people will be thrilled when theaters open back up, and they will show up to enjoy Nolan’s latest film Tenet. But, there’s still a chance that the movie will be moved. While Nolan is pushing for his film to stay firm, according to Variety, insiders expect that the studio will make a decision within a week about whether to hold the planned debut on July 17th or push it back deeper into 2020. With Nolan fighting to hold the release date, I’ll be surprised if Warner Bros. goes against what Nolan wants.
But, Warner Bros. will need to start revving up its marketing campaign for the film, and they don’t want to spend tens of millions of promotional dollars only to have to move it.
One thing is for sure, movie theaters need big high-profile blockbuster movies to get people to the theaters. That’s what is going to get people excited to go. Theaters are coming up with guidelines to open safely and makes sure audiences feel comfortable.
Ideas being discussed include requiring audience members to wear masks, instituting contact-free concessions, and limiting crowd size so people can sit six feet apart in theaters. And like many businesses now attempting to reopen, theaters are implementing health checks, including temperature screenings. People with high temperatures, or anyone who has recently experienced flu-like symptoms, will be turned away.
David A. Gross, who runs movie consultancy FranchiseRe, says:
“The big movies are essential to bring people back, but safe conditions are equally essential. The exhibition business knows this — they are talking about it and putting all of their resources on it. If someone became sick and it was clearly traced to a theater, frankly, it would be devastating.”
While the traffic in movie theaters will be lighter for a while, they’ve got to open up at some point and a film like Tenet is the perfect film to start the ball rolling.