After Movie Delays, Could Christopher Nolan’s Tenet Be The First Post-Coronavirus Blockbuster In Theaters?

John David Washington in Tenet

Because of the spreading coronavirus and people being advised to stay home to help halt the disease's progression, numerous industries have come to a screeching halt, including the entertainment world. Not only have various productions had to shut off their cameras for the foreseeable future, but movies that were close to coming out have now been delayed.

With so many theaters closed, it’s hard to say when things will get back to normal on the film front, but there’s already speculation on which blockbuster could be the first movie to mark the post-coronavirus times. In its report about Warner Bros pushing back Wonder Woman 1984, In The Heights and a few other movies, Deadline mentioned how the studio still has Christopher Nolan’s Tenet scheduled for July 17, with the belief being that the “global theatrical marketplace will be well by then.”

It’s difficult to say if things will be back to normal on the film side of life by mid-July, or any facet of life really. Plus, just because it initially looks like a movie won’t be pushed back doesn’t mean it won’t eventually be taken off the calendar. After all, Vin Diesel was initially adamant that F9 wouldn’t be moved, and now we’re waiting until April 2021 for the next installment of the Fast & Furious franchise.

July is four months away, and since we have no idea when the COVID-19 pandemic will settle down, it is possible that by then people will be able to go back to theaters. If that ends up being the case, then checking out Tenet would certainly be a cool way to commemorate the occasion. Christopher Nolan remains one of Hollywood’s biggest filmmakers, and when combined with the cast he assembled, you can be sure that Tenet will draw large crowds.

On the other hand, don’t be surprised if in the coming weeks, Warner Bros decides to go the cautious route and push back Tenet. This is a very fluid situation, and as we’ve seen with the likes of No Time to Die, Black Widow and many other movies over the last several weeks, studios are all too willing to be safe than sorry.

Specific plot details concerning Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s 11th movie, are still being kept under wraps, but as revealed by the trailer released last December, it involves a secret agent who’s been tasked with stopping World War III, and time manipulation somehow factors into the narrative. In other words, Tenet has more in common with Inception than something like Dunkirk.

Tenet’s main cast includes John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, among others. This movie also marks the first collaboration between Christopher Nolan and composer Ludwig Göransson, as Nolan’s usual musical collaborator, Hans Zimmer, was busy on Dune.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for any updates concerning Tenet’s place on the theatrical calendar. For now, keep track of the other movies still set to come out this year with our 2020 release schedule, though keep in mind that these dates are subject to change.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.