We are still unsure when Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” will arrive in theaters, as Warner Bros. hasn’t yet announced a new release strategy for the film after its most recent delay. However, according to the CEO of AT&T (parent company of WarnerMedia), John Stankey, one thing is for sure— “Tenet” is destined for theaters.
Speaking on a recent investors call (via THR), Stankey was asked about the company’s strategy for releasing films given the fact that COVID-19 cases are surging in the US and it’s unclear when theaters will be reopening. As you might expect, with HBO Max a viable option right now, there has been a lot of speculation that WB would find it better to just release “Tenet” on the streaming platform or perhaps a Premium VOD release.
“There is no question the longer this goes on, there is going to be some content” better served with an HBO Max release, said Stankey. “I love the fact that we have that option now.”
As for whether or not that would happen with something like “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Tenet,” the exec is less certain.
“I would be very surprised if that was the case,” he said about “Wonder Woman 1984” getting a streaming release before theatrical. In regards to “Tenet,” Stankey assured analysts “that’s not going to be the case.”
READ MORE: WB Delays ‘Tenet’ Indefinitely & Says Film Won’t Have A “Traditional” Release
Obviously, those two films have billion-dollar box office aspirations and no matter how popular they would be on PVOD, it’s unlikely they’ll have the same returns for WB. That makes a straight-to-streaming or PVOD release pretty silly to consider. And in the case of “Tenet,” we know that Nolan doesn’t run things at the studio and ultimately has to do what the studio says, but it’s ridiculous to think WB would go completely against the filmmaker’s wishes and skip a theatrical release.
That being said, it’s also clear that, outside of “Tenet,” everything else is on the table. And though he would be “surprised” if ‘WW84’ went to streaming or PVOD, he’s not ruling it out as he did for “Tenet.” Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
