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For what it's worth, they spent over 16 million euros shooting for 7-8 weeks in Estonia, and that should result in 20 minutes of screentime according to some of the locals involved.

domino harvey wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 1:32 am Nolan may be the only mainstream direct with enough studio sway to get away with a 3+ hour film. I think WB would probably bend over backwards for any of his demands, especially since we all know whenever this does get released, it will be a license for printing money regardless of the number of shows a day theatres can squeeze in

This reminds me when a local multiplex chain wanted to charge extra for longer films around 10 years ago. It was for films over 150 minutes if I recall correctly, and when I checked there was only one such film they showed the previous year (Harry Potter, I think). They quickly dropped the idea. I guess they also realised that the negative response was not worth it for one film per year.

flyonthewall2983 wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 12:34 am Rumored runtime is 3 hours, 15 minutes

WB will release this with a 165 runtime. Hopefully we get a director's cut that is 195 minutes long!

I second other's opinions here that Nolan is purposefully playing close to the vest with the trailer. Tenet looks to be very promising and might be the blockbuster of 2020.

The rumor came from a random Twitter account, so there's no secret director's cut

Why would Nolan write a movie that is literally longer than his format of choice (a format in which he's made no less than five other films, and for which this film was specifically shot) would allow?

Not sure about the validity of below, but could be considered a spoiler for those wanting to go in cold.

Spoiler

I have read some random chatter that Tenet is a sequel/connected to Inception.

Now August 12, and surely this won't even make that date at this rate

Nolan needs to push for next summer if he’s really dead-set on a theatrical release. As melodramatic as it sounds, people will die if this is released anytime soon

Maybe this is me being cynical, but I'm honestly not sure a Summer 2021 release is that far off from even the more optimistic projections of a return to normalcy. The Broadway theaters are hoping for a Spring 2021 reopening IF a vaccine is developed and distributed by that time, and even though movies are not as dependent on each theater being as close to capacity as that industry, they're still the same type of business and I wouldn't be surprised if the blockbusters and prestige films wait until they can guarantee that huge audiences are safe again.

Movie theaters are profitable at approx. 15% average occupancy. Sold out crowds only happen once or twice a week for only the biggest movies, most showings even for the biggest movies do not
come close to selling out. The reduced capacity is not a serious concern for the earning potential here.

I don't mean that the theaters wouldn't be open/profitable so much as the studios wouldn't want to release their biggest films at a time when they can only expect to make a fraction of what they would under normal circumstances. Tenet needs to make what, 500 million dollars just to break even? Maybe I'm totally wrong about this, but how can the film be expected to do that kind of business when audiences are literally reduced by half (probably more than that, given that I suspect many would be deterred from even seeing a film out of fear)?

I think WB is not specifically being as concerned with directly profit statements for this one movie but creating an environment where Wonder Woman and company are able to, eventually, build to something resembling normalcy. And they don’t want Nolan to feel like he’s not getting what he wants. I think more likely then a push to next year is a push to Christmas, which I think is the next stop if this one doesn’t stick; it’s just running into too many other things at this point. But they’ve already sunk so much money into P&A for the dates in the immediate future it will immediately mean something like a $50m hit to have to do it all over again.

If this gets pushed to Christmas, then they'll just have the exact same problem re: promotional costs because that'll mean they have to shunt Dune further back

Well, no, because they haven’t spent any (or rather most) of the money yet on Dune. The point to pull out of a movie’s wide release and not lose a ton on reallocating P&A is about two months before release. The problem is that WB has already spent XX dollars on ad space for Tenet in the next six weeks and they dont have any other movies they can switch those ads to.

Fair enough, though who knows where any of these juggled plates will be in four months' time. This exchange definitely has made me glad that I will almost certainly never work in entertainment!

Taken off the release schedule.

Can't wait to watch it on my iWatch soon!

Even if a theatrical release wasn’t part of the deal (which I’m certain it was), WB has too much invested in Nolan and they know he could walk into any studio and get his next film made. So they’re not gonna press streaming even if the numbers pointed that way. Unless Nolan has a change of heart, I don’t see how anyone sees this movie this year

domino harvey wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 4:39 pm Even if a theatrical release wasn’t part of the deal (which I’m certain it was), WB has too much invested in Nolan and they know he could walk into any studio and get his next film made. So they’re not gonna press streaming even if the numbers pointed that way. Unless Nolan has a change of heart, I don’t see how anyone sees this movie this year

Well some of the comments out there (and to be sure, they're just comments) are interpreting WB's statements as indicating that the film will be released in different territories at different times. So maybe that's a compromise WB has struck with Nolan. There are theatres outside of the U.S. that are open and running.

Which brings me to next point, and take this with a gigantic grain of salt: I went to my local independent cinema last night, which opened this weekend and is playing a mix of new independent films (First Cow, Guest of Honour), new restorations (Come and See), and other classics (Godzilla '54, which is what I saw last night). In their lobby are all of their coming soon posters, one of which is for Tenet. Now in any other theatre I would take that as a joke or wishful thinking, but this theatre has a very strict policy of not announcing films unless they know for sure they are getting them soon. And this theatre has never had a major city-wide premiere; it's just not that kind of theatre. As said, grain of salt and all, but ...

That means absolutely nothing.

Tenet is in a bit of scrabble. In some ways, the writing is on the wall. Folks, we aren't going to theaters in large numbers. Not in numbers large enough to make Tenet a superhit blockbuster. Just the reality.

This is a business decesion now -

1. WB has sunk a lot into marketing. If they postpone it to next year, they will have to spend that money again further raising the bar at which the movie becomes profitable.
2. They could try some kind of VOD strategy - perhaps sell it for 150 million dollars to Netflix or Apple or whatever and then also make money on iTunes and BluRay and roadshow versions next year.

God knows.

But more or less. This film perhaps ain't happening this year.

I think what I was trying to get at, while being polite, is that maybe you Americans should stop thinking so U.S.-centric for once. Other countries and territories are going back to cinemas, while the U.S. is not. The attitude of your political leaders and many of your fellow citizens has ensured that. So maybe WB has an agreement with Nolan to release the films in countries where they can, and sell the U.S. streaming rights at the same time. That might be what the plan will be, which allows WB to recoup some of their costs immediately, while also satisfying Nolan's wishes (to a certain extent).

Nasir007 wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:53 pm 2. They could try some kind of VOD strategy - perhaps sell it for 150 million dollars to Netflix or Apple or whatever and then also make money on iTunes and BluRay and roadshow versions next year.

This will not happen, for reasons domino already pointed out, since Nolan is a huge box-office draw and they'd have to be insane to cross him like that, if they are even allowed to depending on his contract. The only way this becomes a viable option is if the entire theatre industry collapses permanently.

Honest question: how confident are any Americans reading this that there will be a Summer 2021 movie season in the U.S.?

willoneill wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:45 pm Well some of the comments out there (and to be sure, they're just comments) are interpreting WB's statements as indicating that the film will be released in different territories at different times. So maybe that's a compromise WB has struck with Nolan. There are theatres outside of the U.S. that are open and running.

Warners basically confirmed that this is what's happening

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

willoneill wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 6:22 pm Honest question: how confident are any Americans reading this that there will be a Summer 2021 movie season in the U.S.?

I think many of us are trying to stay in the day to remain sane, and speculating about the potential depressing consequences of the problematic way our country has been handling the virus, an entire year into the future, simply isn't helpful to think about whatsoever

willoneill wrote: Mon Jul 20, 2020 6:22 pm Honest question: how confident are any Americans reading this that there will be a Summer 2021 movie season in the U.S.?

Depends entirely on the timetable for release of a vaccine, which, even given some optimistic news from England today on the subject, means that large-scale social activities like movies are on pause until at the absolute least the end of this year. Certainly the traditional awards season will only proceed in a heavily modified fashion if at all, and that's dependent on the studios wanting to release their films in pretty awful viewing circumstances.