Will "Tenet" Ever Come to Australian Theatres?

It has been delayed yet again.

When the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan's Tenet debuted on Fortnite in May, the film was scheduled to land in Australian cinemas on 16 July.

However, with the coronavirus pandemic forcing people to stay indoors and practice social distancing, there's been a lot of uncertainty over when cinemas across the globe can safely reopen. As a result, the film's release date was postponed until 31 July, and then 13 August. 

But now it has been pushed back again, with Warner Bros. removing the movie from its release calendar. It's a huge blow, especially when theatres were hoping Tenet would help revive cinemagoing. 

Plus, a new release date hasn't been confirmed this time around. 

So, when can we expect it to land in Aussie cinemas?

That's the question that everyone wants answered.

At this stage, no one knows for sure when the film will arrive in theatres. As reported by Variety, Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich said in a statement, "We will share a new 2020 release date imminently for Tenet, Christopher Nolan's wholly original and mind-blowing feature." 

He added, "Our goals throughout this process have been to ensure the highest odds of success for our films while also being ready to support our theatre partners with new content as soon as they could safely reopen." 

Given Emmerich's statement, it's likely that the flick will be released this year. Except, given how many times it has already been postponed, there's a chance we could even be looking at 2021.

When you hear Tenet has been delayed indefinitely. #Tenet pic.twitter.com/VAuo18pALi

— Times Fly in July (@KWilsonHunte) July 20, 2020

Could they release it in Australia before it opens in the United States? 

It's not something that Warner Bros. usually does, but there's a possibility that they could release Tenet in Australia before it opens in the United States, especially considering many cinemas have already reopened down under.

"We are not treating Tenet like a traditional global day-and-date release, and our upcoming marketing and distribution plans will reflect that," Emmerich said.

Washington Post Journalist Steven Zeitchik tweeted that the film could be released on 26 August here, while it'd only open in the U.S. on Labor Day weekend, which is in September. However, this has not been confirmed.

Why don't they just release it on Boxing Day? 

At this stage, it seems reasonable that Warner Bros. might want to hold out for the more lucrative Boxing Day and holiday season period to release Tenet. 

However, Nolan has said that he wants his latest flick to revive movie theatres after the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, the director wants to support exhibitors who are struggling. 

"Chris really would like to be coming out with the film that opens theatres," Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said. 

"I don't know anyone in America who is pushing harder to get the theatres reopened and to get his movie released than Chris Nolan."

With that in mind, it seems unlikely that Tenet would be released via streaming platforms. 

Tenet is Nolan's first film since 2017's Dunkirk, and stars stars Robert Pattinson, John David Washington, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Clemence Poesy, Himesh Patel, Denzil Smith, Martin Donovan and Sean Avery.

We'll keep you updated as soon as we find out more details about when it'll be released.

(Update 28/07): Tenet will land in Aussie cinemas on Thursday 27 August 2020. 

Header Image: Warner Bros. Pictures