Tenet was originally due out July 17th and has been postponed multiple times, due to theaters being closed as a result of the pandemic.
This decision and announcement is noteworthy for a number of reasons.
Since the virus has continued to grip the U.S. and has stalled theater openings around the world, several competing streaming services have essentially cannibalized their planned-for theatrical releases, and premiered them on SVOD instead.
On the same weekend, Tom Hanks’ WW II action drama, Greyhound, broke records for its streamer, Apple TV Plus, versus opening for the studio that produced it, Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The biggest movie-to-streaming migration story of the summer, Disney Plus’s premiere of the movie version of Hamilton over the 4th of July weekend, again not only smashed all of Disney’s previous streaming subscription records, but it seemed to herald an accepted and even needed embrace of the platform, in a time where going out to the movies is impossible (at least if you’re not at a Drive-In.)
All three of these films did wonders for their respective streaming services, reminding consumers of their availability and appeal, while also garnering major viewership and generally warm reviews for the films themselves.
In other words, by virtually any measure, everyone won.
So why is AT&T being so protective about Tenet’s theatrical release, while also indicating similar plans for another Warner Bros. spectacular, Wonder Woman: 1984?
Tenet is the brainchild of Christopher Nolan, one of the most original and successful filmmakers working today, responsible for the Dark Knight Trilogy and stewardship of the D.C. library, along with being responsible for some of cinema’s most dazzling, original efforts, including Interstellar and Inception.
His movies are designed for the “big screen experience” and have budgets that are exponentially higher than Palm Springs, Greyhound or Hamilton.
One could make the similar creative argument for the spectacle that Wonder Woman: 1984 promises, as well as another highly anticipated big budget movie, No Time To Die, the final installment of Daniel Craig as James Bond, Agent 007.
By holding out for a theatrical release, studios like the AT&T-owned Warner Bros not only maintain good relations with artists like Nolan who insist on a big-screen debut to most handsomely show off their cinematic vision, but these same studios perhaps more importantly preserve the potential revenue stream that movie spectaculars can generate.
Nolan’s films have generated billions of dollars of box-office in the past.
But we’re no longer living in a world where “going to the movies” is a way of life.
Even in China, where the virus is largely under control, movie theaters that had once been opened are now shuttered, for fear that enclosed spaces like the local cineplex are the ideal environment for the virus to resurface and spread.
It’s therefore curious that Stankey would go out of his way to announce Tenet’s future on his company’s quarterly call.
While HBO Max, AT&T’s fairly new streaming service, has performed well since its debut, it’s alone among the new streamers in not having a big movie title debut over the summer…so far.
To sit back and allow other streamers to make not only a lot of noise about their successes with these titles, but to also allow them to essentially familiarize new customers with other competing platforms, carries a lot of risk.
AT&T, for now, appears comfortable ceding to the artistic demands of its filmmakers while nurturing the bottom-line hopes for a potential return to “normal” – – a normal where audiences feel safe and enthusiastic about going out to see big blockbusters at their local movie house.
How long the pandemic lasts and what affect it has on the cinema experience is an issue that’s been vigorously debated here and elsewhere over the last four months. Predictions run the gamut from robust to apocalyptic.
It should be interesting to see how long AT&T will hold on to Tenet and other major titles for a potential theatrical run, or if the communications giant will ultimately embrace the same reality the other entertainment verticals are facing: the future, hell – – the present – – is in streaming, and the artistic community and the bottom-line thinkers at every studio, must get on board.
Because really – – are things ever going back to normal?
I’m Tom Nunan. I’ve helped run networks and studios, rising to president of NBC Studios and UPN (having held senior positions at ABC and FOX prior.) Since my years as a
I’m Tom Nunan. I’ve helped run networks and studios, rising to president of NBC Studios and UPN (having held senior positions at ABC and FOX prior.) Since my years as a suit, I’ve started my own company — Bull’s Eye Entertainment. We’re best known for the multiple Academy Award-winning Best Picture Crash (2006), which I also Co-EP’d. I teach at UCLA’s Graduate School of Theater, Film and TV in my free time. I’m the past Chairman of the Hollywood Radio and TV Society, and I’m also a board member of Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation. I’m a public speaker, media expert and am known as a “pop culture guru.” I love sharing my insights about movie and TV trends, and commenting on what it all means.