‘Tenet’ will hit international theaters Aug. 26 and parts of the U.S. on Labor Day weekend

Warner Bros. said the countries where the film will be released include France, Canada, South Korea, Germany, Japan, Italy and Britain. It did not list U.S. cities, leaving that decision to a time closer to the release date and a clearer public-health picture.

Executives hope New York, the country’s biggest filmgoing market, will be online then. Los Angeles, the second-biggest market, is a bigger question mark, with California recently issuing new coronavirus restrictions.

If the plan sticks, “Tenet” would mark the first major theatrical release for Hollywood since shutdowns began in March. “Tenet” has been postponed several times after its initial date of July 17.

The release would also bring an end to a saga that has kept fans and theater owners on tenterhooks, even as it has at times tipped into a “Groundhog Day”-like world of endlessly repeating rescheduling.

The movie’s box-office performance will serve as a kind of weather vane for other studios, which have been reluctant to gamble on releasing their films only in select corona-ready markets. A successful rollout even in this limited manner could motivate some studios to restore postponed releases, while a weak performance will inspire further delays.

For Warner Bros., the stakes are high. The company spent some $200 million to make “Tenet,” which centers on a mysterious time-jumping quest to save the world, and many millions more to market it. Executives are hoping that foreign business helps pad their bottom line even as the U.S. status remains uncertain. Many international markets, such as France and South Korea, have been open for weeks, sometimes seeing robust and surprising hits.

Canada, which has not seen more than 1,000 new covid-19 cases per day since May, will be grouped with the European and Asian markets for the Aug. 26 opening.

In the U.S., the booking will serve as a lifeline for theaters as they struggle to pay lenders and landlords after months of shutdowns or tepid business of showing old releases. The release pattern will function as a type of throwback slow-play pattern not much seen in a Hollywood where movies try to hit in as many places at once and make most of their money in a matter of weeks. It’s expected “Tenet” in new markets every few weeks as the virus comes under control there, with much of its box office coming in the second or even third month of release.

That could be an uphill climb. Seven-day averages have just hit record highs in more than a dozen states, in places as far apart as Louisiana and Alaska.

Even in states that are open, there is little evidence so far that consumers will come to theaters. The theaters that have reopened with older films have seen drastically reduced business this summer, with some owners telling The Post that business was only about 10 percent of what it was on comparable weekends in the summer of 2019.

A week-long head start in foreign markets is not unheard of even in non-pandemic times, as studios sometimes look to take advantage of holiday weekends or other local trends abroad. But the U.S. release plan could pose some challenges as the weeks wear on, and there remains a threat of piracy and plot leakage for moviegoers not part of the Labor Day wave.

That concern is enhanced in the case of Nolan, whose work attracts fans who wish to discover its secrets for themselves.

Warner Bros. does enjoy the benefit of a clearer release runway: Late last week, Paramount moved “A Quiet Place Part II” from Labor Day weekend to 2021.

And consumers could benefit from the release even if their city remains closed. The Labor Day rollout hits start on the release clock that will allow the film to begin to move across digital platforms as soon as December.

Source:WP