At Long Last, "Tenet" is Delayed Indefinitely

Scene from Tenet (202?)

For many, the upcoming release of Tenet was going to be a beacon of hope. After months of the theatrical experience being permanently uprooted (at least stateside), many saw this summer going differently. July would come around and with it a return to a normal, watching the latest Christopher Nolan movie with such aplomb that one can't help but remember why we went to the movies in the first place. Well, there's some bad news. First, it was announced that the film was being pushed back to August. Then in a move made just this week, Tenet is on indefinite hiatus. It's something that is a bit sad, but also a perfect ironic note. More than anything Tenet taking this long to be postponed is a sign of a ridiculous hubris that could never be fulfilled. It's a sign of  how much still needs to be done before theaters can open, which is a great bummer.

For many cinephiles, there was something amusing about Tenet. Earlier in 2020 when the global pandemic put most of the world on quarantine, every noteworthy movie did one of two things: move to streaming or delay the release. Major movies like Mulan and In the Heights do not even have 2020 release dates anymore. It's a scenario that comes with an uncertainty. Nobody knows when things will open. Even The Academy has grown sympathetic to the cause and are currently allowing V.O.D. titles to compete in major categories for the first (and probably only) time. It's going to be an odd awards season, and one that will not include Tenet.

When everyone was jumping ship, Tenet held out hope that theaters would open. I would go so far as to argue that they did it with such foolish confidence that they were always doomed to fail. When they got trailers circulating, there was an emphasis of it being ONLY in theaters, and while that should be a selling point, it feels important to note that: nothing is in theaters right now. Sure we have a few drive-ins open, but otherwise nobody wanting to gross hundreds of millions is doing business because, well, it's not a sustainable model right now. As it stands, even the big boys at Disney seek to lose billions based on how this year is going.

While I love Nolan movies and eagerly follow every development, I am not personally shocked by this. If anything, I feel like their unwillingness to cooperate only makes them look bad. Why couldn't they just put themselves on indefinite hiatus immediately to play it safe? Why did they have to be reduced to a meme of cinematic culture? Even if they waited, they could've noticed when theaters weren't going to be open and avoided promoting this foolish idea that Tenet is "only in theaters." Sure it can still achieve that, but not in 2020. I doubt it will be even by early 2021 when the new qualification date is.

That does stand to reason that it could now open in a less conventional means. Maybe it will have a staggered release schedule going to streaming, actually warranting the ridiculous V.O.D. price tags. Either that or it will be released internationally in countries that have had more successful COVID-19 treatment. That will only make American distribution look worse, and if anything diminishes the need to appeal to U.S. audiences. 

Of course, Nolan has always been his own special case. He doesn't play by the rules. Still, I get why he'd want to release Tenet in mid-July. If it's true that it was a sequel to Inception, then it's clear that the original release was on the same weekend of the 2010 film, and in a different world, it would've had the same impact. That would've been exciting. Still, Nolan doesn't play by the rules and still succeeds. I get why he would want to push boundaries. However, I don't know when this film will actually air, and that's a bummer. I want to see this movie so bad. When the pandemic hit, I knew that it wouldn't be any time soon. 

Tenet will still be a big deal whenever it comes out. I will likely say that it was worth the wait. Even then, I feel like this was always going to happen. It was always going to be delayed for however long it takes. I am interested to see if this plays internationally first and if it ends up reshaping how the whole movie industry is formed going forward. I don't know everything about its current strategy, but I wonder what this says about every other major release for the rest of the year. Are we doomed? Will Trolls: World Tour dominate now? It's looking like it more and more. Still, so long as Tenet exists, I will have something to look forward to in the uncertain future.