Will Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” be the first movie that gets audiences back out to movie theaters? The trailer that debuted in “Fortnite” Thursday for the time-bending thriller starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson should help.
With just about every major summer blockbuster moving off its release date in the last few months in the wake of the coronavirus, Nolan’s “Tenet” has held firm on its July 17 opening. More than any filmmaker today, Nolan is steadfast in his belief that the best movies need to be seen in a theater (screening it on a 35mm film print also helps), and pandemic or not, “Tenet” is no exception to that rule.
It’s fitting that “Tenet” is Nolan’s 11th feature film, because the film hinges on that palindrome of a word, “Tenet.” Washington’s character in this film is guided by that word and has a gift to see time differently, both forward and backward, in something of a loop. He’s a spy effectively brought back from the dead with the goal of helping to prevent World War III fate far worse than even nuclear holocaust. And this new trailer explains it’s not time travel, but something called “inversion.”
“You’re not shooting the bullet, you’re catching it,” a scientist played by Clémence Poésy says to Washington in the trailer.
However, that’s about all the secrets you’re going to get out of this new trailer or the first one that dropped back in December. Just know that “Tenet” is an original, mind-bending action-thriller from Nolan that should be a welcome throwback for fans of Nolan’s films such as “Memento” or “Inception.”
Starring alongside Washington and Pattinson in “Tenet” are Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Kenneth Branagh, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine, Clémence Poésy and Himesh Patel.
The new trailer for “Tenet” first debuted inside the video game “Fortnite” in the game’s Party Royale game mode that allows players to gather in a virtual, social space to hang out with other friends online. Washington himself even appeared in a quick Q&A before and after the trailer and explained that one of the stunts seen in the film involving a massive plane crash was done entirely with practical effects.
“There are just little nuggets of information and breadcrumbs about the movie that I’m surprised he was going to reveal, and I’m glad he did,” Washington told the “Fortnite” crowd. “This seems like something different. it seems like this is where he’s about to take us for the next 10 to 15 years of filmmaking.”
“Fortnite” fans also learned during the livestream that another Nolan movie would be screened on the Party Royale big screen at some point this summer.
Warner Bros. will release “Tenet” in theaters on July 17, 2020, making it one of the first wide releases of summer 2020. Check out the new trailer above.