Tenet release date: Christopher Nolan movie delayed indefinitely

Moviegoers were eagerly anticipating Christopher Nolan’s mysterious new movie, but three weeks from release, it’s been pulled off the schedule.

Three weeks from release, the highly anticipated movie Tenet has been removed from the schedule indefinitely.

Cinemas around the world were pegging the industry’s restart on Christopher Nolan’s mysterious film as the first high-profile blockbuster to draw audiences back into theatres after they were shut earlier this year.

Originally, the film was dated for release last week and had not moved during the early days of the pandemic despite most big-budget movies being delayed by Hollywood studios. Last month, the Australian release was pushed to July 30, and then again to August 12.

Now, it’s been delayed without a new release date.

Nolan, the director of The Dark Knight, Inception and Dunkirk, has been vocal about Tenet being released into cinemas rather than diverted to digital purchase, rental or streaming platforms as some movies have been during the pandemic.

Tenet’s production budget was said to be in the $US200-$US225 million range.

John David Washington leads the cast of Tenet (Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

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With record-breaking new coronavirus cases in the US, the return to cinemas has looked increasingly unlikely for the coming weeks. California had mandated the closure of all indoor cinemas.

Additionally, while cinemas in China have started to reopen, current rules would forbid Tenet, which is two-and-a-half hours long. China, the second largest box office in the world, are only screening movies with a runtime of under two hours.

A press release from Warner Bros had suggested that the studio may pivot its release strategy and consider releasing the movie in markets outside of the US first but Nolan has been on the record that he wanted Tenet to support US cinema businesses.

Releasing Tenet elsewhere before the US could become a piracy issue, and spoil for US audiences the twists of a movie which little is known about so far.

Starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki, Tenet’s plot has been shrouded in secrecy. All that is known is that a group of people are trying to prevent World War III, possibly through time travel.

Christopher Nolan is an influential director who has delivered many hits for Warner Bros (Photo by Andrew Matthews/AFP)

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The next high-profile movie release still currently on the calendar is the Disney live-action remake of Mulan, which is slated for August. But, this date is likely to change.

Prominent films that would have already been released but has been delayed so far this year including A Quiet Place 2, Mulan, Black Widow, No Time To Die, Top Gun: Maverick, Jungle Cruise and Tenet.

Australian cinemas reopened their doors earlier this month with a slew of new release films, but many of them are smaller, independent or foreign films, including The Personal History of David Copperfield, A White, White Day, Love Sarah, Waves, The King of Staten Island, It Must Be Heaven and Shirley.

Many releases from earlier this year, from before the pandemic, are still playing in reopened cinemas (except in Victoria where they have re-shut) and are still in the weekly top 10 box office rankings, including The Invisible Man and Jumanji: The Next Level.

In the US this past week, Australian movie Relic was the highest grossing film of the week, playing mostly in drive-ins. Relic was released in Australia on Stan.

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