Warner Bros. Delays Tenet Two Weeks, Will Open July 31st

Tenet will not open on July 17th as originally planned, marking a slight delay as the studio seeks a bit more time as theaters seek to reopen. THR reports that the Christopher Nolan film has been pushed to July 31st, two weeks after the originally-scheduled release date.

Nolan has been pushing for the film to hold to its release date in order to help theaters who have been hit hard by the shutdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Tenet’s place, Warner Bros. will re-release Nolan’s Inception in theaters on July 17th to celebrate the film’s 10th anniversary.

“We are excited that our partners at Warner Bros. will offer a new generation of film fans the opportunity to enjoy Inception the way it was originally intended to be seen — on the big screen,” said the National Association of Theater Oweners. “Over these last months we have been keeping Warner Bros. closely informed of our work towards reopening our theatres in accordance with governmental health and safety requirements, and we are looking forward to audiences enjoying Tenet in our theaters all around the world on July 31st.”

As of now, Disney still has Mulan set to open on July 24th which — unless moved again — will make it the first new major film to open nationwide since the shutdown. It would be followed by Tenet the week after, then The Spongbob Movie: Sponge on the Run on August 7th and Wonder Woman 1984 on August 14th.

Tenet stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kenneth Branagh and Michael Caine. Plot details remain under wraps, though it is known to be a sci-fi thriller with espionage elements that deals with time inversion.