Business Insider recently shared a report claiming that NATO, the group which represents movie theaters in the United States, believe that 90% of theaters will be open by July. That's a surprisingly high number, but if the 10% represents cinemas in New York City and Los Angeles, then it's highly unlikely Christopher Nolan's Tenet will be released on July 17th as planned.
Why not? Well, studios can't afford to alienate any moviegoers right now given how social distancing will massively cut revenue from theaters, and Collider believes Tenet isn't coming out in July, regardless.
"For what it’s worth, I’ve heard Tenet will, in fact, be delayed, and that Warner Bros. is just trying to find a new date, which is hard since the calendar is jam-packed with big movies," the site reports. "That’s why there was no date on the most recent trailer. But how many films could possibly be bigger than a new Nolan movie? Tenet could always swap places with WW84, or possibly Dune, which is slated to open in December — just three days before Tom Cruise‘s Top Gun sequel."
We know that Nolan is intent on having Tenet be the film to re-open theaters, but it's looking increasingly likely that will now change. What does that mean for Mulan which is also scheduled to come out in July? Time will tell, but a Digital or Disney+ debut could be in store for that now-delayed release.
Clearly, the landscape in Hollywood remains as uncertain as ever, and with so much going on in the world right now, releasing new movies may simply fall by the wayside.