Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ Sets Rerelease in Imax to Promote Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Sequel
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A big screen bromance is afoot.
Christopher Nolan’s Tenet will be released for one week in Imax screens later this month in the lead-up to the release of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, Warner Bros. announced Thursday. The two filmmakers are big fans of one another, and Nolan was eager to help Villeneuve’s upcoming event pic.
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The one-week rerelease commences Feb. 23 and will dovetail into the debut of Villeneuve’s film on March 1. Those checking out Tenet will be treated to exclusive footage of Legendary’s Dune: Part Two.
Tenet‘s return to theaters serves other purposes. The movie, which bowed in September 2020, was the first Hollywood tentpole to be released as cinemas began reopening amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. But it wasn’t able to get a full run, never playing in New York and Los Angeles, as those cities’ theaters remained closed. Nor was it able to secure many Imax runs, Nolan’s format of choice. It topped out at $58.5 million in North America.
Secondly, Warner Bros. movie chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are eager to please Nolan in the hopes of luring him back to the Warner Bros. fold. Nolan, who was unhappy with the way the previous regime at Warners sent its 2021 theatrical slate day-and-date to streaming, opted to make his blockbuster film Oppenheimer for Universal.
Every studio in Hollywood is clamoring to work with Nolan, but the bond with Universal is strong considering that Oppenheimer made nearly $1 billion at the global box office and leads all Oscar contenders with 13 nominations, including best picture and best director.
“Seeing the way audiences responded to our large format presentations of Oppenheimer, I’m thrilled that Warner Bros. is giving audiences a chance to see Tenet the way it was intended to be seen, on the largest Imax and large format film screens, and I’m honored to have our movie warm up the film projectors for Denis’ jaw-dropping Dune: Part Two,” Nolan said in a statement.
Added Villeneuve, “As an audience member, I have always valued Chris’s forward thinking when it comes to shooting on film and especially in large formats. As directors, we are completely in sync; on Dune, we shot several sequences for Imax, and I simply loved it, so for Dune: Part Two, we pushed it to 100 percent of the movie. That is why I am just as eager to see Tenet again, but now in 70mm Imax, the way they filmed it, to fully appreciate his vision for this incredible film.”
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