After multiple weeks of release in theaters, the domestic box office totals aren’t that great for “Tenet.” Thankfully, as far as Warner Bros. and director Christopher Nolan are concerned, this can be chalked up to the fact that the studio released the film in the middle of a pandemic when domestic theaters are still not all back and many aren’t able to run at large capacity. So, the lackluster box office totals don’t necessarily mean the film is a complete failure. And according to star John David Washington, he sure hopes the film is successful because he’s itching to make a sequel.
Speaking to Esquire, Washington was asked if the events of the film would set up a sequel and if so, would he be ready to come back? Without going into spoilers (considering many still have yet to see the film for no other reason than it just isn’t available), the actor emphatically suggested a sequel could happen and he wants to be involved. However, it’s not actually up to him.
“In my mind, that’s a yes!” Washington said. “We will be doing this again, we’ll see you in a couple of years. In reality, I don’t know. Chris does what he wants. Maybe he has something that he’s developed for years that he wants to do next, maybe he’s been inspired by something else he sees and wants to do that, I don’t know. I hope we get to do it again, I hope we get to explore more because I think we found something really unique.”
Outside of the ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, Nolan isn’t the type of filmmaker that leaps at the chance to make sequels. Most of his films are massive box office successes and would easily get greenlit for a sequel, but Nolan always seems to find himself moving onto other worlds. With that in mind, a “Tenet 2” doesn’t seem like a strong possibility. That said, with the apparent poor timing of the release of this film, why not make a sequel and allow Nolan the chance to expand on the world and then release it when theaters are able to fully support the film? Maybe then Nolan can prove that “Tenet” is a worthy film that just had a bad release and not a mediocre film that wouldn’t have done well no matter when it hit theaters.
At least if he does want to return to the world he created, Nolan will already have his leading man ready to jump back into the action.
