TENET Definitely Won't Hit HBO Max Before Theaters, While WONDER WOMAN 1984 Is Unlikely

During a conference call earlier today, John Stankey, CEO of WarnerMedia parent company AT&T, shared an unexpected update on Tenet and the possibility of it arriving on HBO Max before theaters. This week, we learned that Warner Bros. is considering a staggered release which would see Christopher Nolan's movie arrive in some countries (and U.S. cities) before others.

There has, however, been speculation that the studio will cut its losses and have the mysterious sci-fi epic debut on the HBO Max streaming service, a move that would drastically increase subscribers. It would also result in a massive financial loss for Warner Bros., but that seems inevitable now no matter what happens.

"Is it going to happen with a movie like Tenet or something like Wonder Woman?" Stankey said in response to being asked about upcoming blockbusters being moved to streaming. "I’d be very surprised if that would be the case. In fact, I can assure you with Tenet, that’s not going to be the case."

So, Tenet is a definite no, while Wonder Woman 1984 sounds highly unlikely. 

He did, however, add: "The longer this goes on, there’s going to be some content on the margins that we’re going to look at and say it may be better served to be distributed in another construct or a different construct. There’s some content that is going to be more enjoyable and better to see in theaters than in the living room. I don’t know when theaters are going to reopen."

For now, it's clear that major studios plan on continuing to support theaters, but if today's news about Bill & Ted Face the Music is any indication, things could change as COVID-19 continues to pose a problem.