Many in the industry are adamant that Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” will be released on time on July 17th and are moving mountains to get it there. Will it be enough though?
Deadline reports that while Warner Bros. Pictures hasn’t yet decided what to do with the release date but one figure is said to be key – the studio reportedly needs at least 80% of the world’s cinemas to be open if the blockbuster is to be released in July.
The trade says the studio is specifically looking at cinemas in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco and whether they’ll open by July in order to justify releasing the film as originally intended. Those three cities along account for 25% of a movie’s opening weekend box office and “Tenet” will require “a domestic release of 3.5K theaters including most of the major cities, and more than 30K screens worldwide”.
A few European territories are already opening up cinemas in a limited capacity, but that’s a long way from the 80% marker the studio needs and even if all that required are open – it will be a long time before they run at full capacity or with as many screenings per day as they could have done before the pandemic.
There is also no option on staggering international releases – when it goes out it is going worldwide or not at all. The report indicates that the next three weeks will tell the tale, and if the July release is shot down then the entire schedule will slide – a “Tenet” delay, like the Bond delay back in March, would essentially end any chance of Summer theatrical releases with everything moving to the Fall or later.
