Christopher Nolan Stands to Gain A Lot From ‘Tenet’
By George Robbins
In case people haven’t really been paying attention to entertainment news, or any news, movie theaters aren’t doing so well right now. They have been closed down since mid-March with even chain theaters like AMC about to go bankrupt. Theaters are not allowed to reopen in most places right now, and even when they are allowed, they must follow new health and safety laws in order to stay open. Thus, it is a very big deal that when theaters eventually do reopen, that they have something to show to the public to keep them entertained. If they can’t draw attention back to theaters, then they will end up losing even more money when they open.
Christopher Nolan has been trying to convince Warner Bros. to keep the original release date for ‘Tenet’ in July so that it can be one of the first big films to be released upon theaters reopening. As of now, most theaters plan to have their doors opened back up again by July which has production companies thinking. They have to decide when they want to release their films and if it will be worth releasing them just after theaters reopen. Nolan thinks that his movie should absolutely keeps its initial release spot and that it should be among the first films to be showing when people can go to the movies again. Thanks to new information, we can get a better idea as to why exactly he is pushing for the film to remain in its release spot.
Thanks to an old deal in a contract with Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan stands to gain 20% of ‘Tenet’s’ first dollar box office. With this in mind, it is easy to see why Nolan might be pushing so hard for his film to remain in its initial July 17th release slot. Even if he succeeds in getting the film to stay in its original release spot, there are still plenty of other issues that could arise between now and when the film is supposed to release. For instance, theaters could end up staying closed longer, or the more likely option is that no one will want to go out to the movies after they first open. Even if things work out the way that Nolan wants them to, people might be too nervous to go out to the movies, and for good reason since there is no end in sight for this pandemic.