honestly I don't get this why press spin stories this way. Yes, Warner Bros is worried about making its budget back. So, it doesn't make sense for journalists to use the "Nolan wants to preserve the moviegoing experience" narrative, when, there's no way WB are putting Tenet on PVOD or VOD or day and date therefore negating that aforementioned argument.
WB is always gonna have it release in theatres, it's just a matter of timing
Where's the press attacking Disney for opening theme parks and Mulan? Seriously this bias is annoying as hell
honestly I don't get this why press spin stories this way. Yes, Warner Bros is worried about making its budget back. So, it doesn't make sense for journalists to use the "Nolan wants to preserve the moviegoing experience" narrative, when, there's no way WB are putting Tenet on PVOD or VOD or day and date therefore negating that aforementioned argument.
WB is always gonna have it release in theatres, it's just a matter of timing
Where's the press attacking Disney for opening theme parks and Mulan? Seriously this bias is annoying as hell
Thats NYtimes...what do you expect? Lol
they make fake news all the time..
Its the typical media that can make a story like a career criminal as if it looks like a hero, and make a hero like as if it looks like a criminal
Last edited by JohnnyTheKid on June 14th, 2020, 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
honestly I don't get this why press spin stories this way. Yes, Warner Bros is worried about making its budget back. So, it doesn't make sense for journalists to use the "Nolan wants to preserve the moviegoing experience" narrative, when, there's no way WB are putting Tenet on PVOD or VOD or day and date therefore negating that aforementioned argument.
WB is always gonna have it release in theatres, it's just a matter of timing
Where's the press attacking Disney for opening theme parks and Mulan? Seriously this bias is annoying as hell
I can’t say if it’s true or not but judging by what Nolan said on Total Film magazine then it doesn’t seem to hold up a lot since their words then were that it was out of their hands and that they would only be ready with the movie for whenever the time is ripe.
I want to believe that Nolan isn’t as obsessed as to forget safety. But you never know. Although NYT has a questionable reputation.
People are forgetting what's is undoubtedly Nolan's main concern here - if cinemas stay closed beyond the summer many may go out of business. That's what's meant by "preserving the moviegoing experience".
Now, should this outweigh health risks of opening things up in July in the US/UK in the first place? That's what the arguments in favour of delaying Tenet are about - that it shouldn't and that the governments are wrong for even doing this. The reason they're pushing on Nolan is because it's only directors like that which can push decisions that go against the usual business imperatives (which would be for cinemas to open up asap). If Nolan was concerned about safety in the way those arguing for the delay are he'd push this the hell out of the way like WB apparently want. But he's doing the opposite. He's currently foregoing potential box office and his own backend that he'd get for delaying it until a more confident time to "save the industry".
As the BMD open letter said, "the industry must balance its will to survive with a will for people to survive".
And yes people are attacking Disney for opening the theme parks. As for Mulan, until two days ago it wasn't the first blockbuster to reopen cinemas. And Chapek has hinted that they're watching Tenet closely and it's likely that Tenet's move will affect the release, I'll be shocked if it doesn't move back.
Re: Total Film - that quote about it being out of their hands was from Emma Thomas. Nolan's own quote was firm that the film will be ready for when cinemas reopen. And there's the quotes from the IMAX CEO. Nolan is so obviously driving these decisions to not delay.
People are forgetting what's is undoubtedly Nolan's main concern here - if cinemas stay closed beyond the summer many may go out of business. That's what's meant by "preserving the moviegoing experience".
Now, should this outweigh health risks of opening things up in July in the US/UK in the first place? That's what the arguments in favour of delaying Tenet are about - that it shouldn't and that the governments are wrong for even doing this. The reason they're pushing on Nolan is because it's only directors like that which can push decisions that go against the usual business imperatives (which would be for cinemas to open up asap). If Nolan was concerned about safety in the way those arguing for the delay are he'd push this the hell out of the way like WB apparently want. But he's doing the opposite. He's currently foregoing potential box office and his own backend that he'd get for delaying it until a more confident time to "save the industry".
As the BMD open letter said, "the industry must balance its will to survive with a will for people to survive".
And yes people are attacking Disney for opening the theme parks. As for Mulan, until two days ago it wasn't the first blockbuster to reopen cinemas. And Chapek has hinted that they're watching Tenet closely and it's likely that Tenet's move will affect the release, I'll be shocked if it doesn't move back.
Re: Total Film - that quote about it being out of their hands was from Emma Thomas. Nolan's own quote was firm that the film will be ready for when cinemas reopen. And there's the quotes from the IMAX CEO. Nolan is so obviously driving these decisions to not delay.
I know what you mean. It's clear from many people like Spike Lee, that they're not comfortable going to the cinema at all. IMO it's easy for people to say, "Nolan should delay it, I'm not ready to go back to cinemas". But do they say WHEN exactly they'll feel ready, because it's clear a vaccine is not coming this year.
Listen, I am in the camp of Tenet should move past August because big markets aren't ready from a safety standpoint. But how far can they push it? It'll infinitely impact not only the theatrical filmgoing experience but also the industry at large. This dilemma isn't only Nolan's burden to shoulder. The industry needs to do more to help Nolan and Tenet for all their sakes. It's frustrating to hear Branagh talk about the industry waiting will bated breath for Tenet's opening whilst they sit on their couches. If they had the balls they would move their own films forward or support Tenet. Tenet's success is their success also. I can't remember the exact article but there's a quote stating "if Tenet fails, they'll likely be no tentpoles until after Christmas".Just look at the backlog of films, the industry can't afford to push all it back. It's already crowded as is, pretty much there's a major release every weekend, people just don't have the disposable income to be going every weekend.
Tenet needs to come out before Oct and whether cinema chains enforce masks and proper safety protocols is above Nolan's pay grade. All this talk of Nolan not giving a sh*t about health safety is just plain ridiculous, he briefly talks about it in the TotalFilm feature and Branagh repeatedly brings it up in interviews this week. Nolan is just providing an opportunity for cinemas and the industry to start moving back to normalcy, safety and whether states open, that's on governmental legislation and apart of the individual cinema decision-making process.
And yes, there is smack talk about Mulan and Disney but is it all the level of Nolan backlash? Nope.
With many films still in production or yet to be filmed being pushed back (like Matrix, for instance, or Matt Reeves' Batman), the 'backlog' is able - in theory - to balance itself out. You just push the entire release calendar as it exists now back a certain amount of time. The problem here though is that certain amount of time doesn't help cinemas... Hence the mishmash going on right now.
I think as a starting point for when, would be to follow other countries leads where cinemas only opened when there's been no deaths for weeks and less than 10 new cases daily for some time. But that's evidently too long for not only the US and UK major chains but also their governments who are trying to kick-start things before they should. Yes this aspect is above Nolan's pay grade. But what's in his pay grade is the ability to push it back if he doesn't feel that it's right time (evidently he does feel it's okay, so okay he wants to go first, or.as close to first as possible). As much as it can be argued to be "an opportunity for cinemas", should that opportunity come at the cost of potentially increased cases and fatalities? Is it even morally right for a big mass marketed "see this opening weekend or you miss out - oh and the alternative is waiting until Christmas" tentpole like this to be even opening at a time when there's still a sizeable health risk attached?
Again, the point here is that the industry shouldn't come before health. At the moment, in the case of the state of the US and the UK, it is coming before health, in my opinion. And Nolan/Tenet having more smack talk than Disney/Mulan is obvious as to why, and frankly deserved. They're the ones that have been standing so firm that the entire theatrical industrial complex has been planning reopening around specifically this film. Every webinar and earnings call specifically called out Nolan for helping the industry and being that guilding light.
It’s a complicated issue no doubt hence the speculation around Tenet for a while. All your points are valid, I’m not arguing with you just proffering thoughts. The idea of opening cinemas after mininam cases for weeks won’t work, even here in Australia cinemas are opening next week yet we still have a dozens of new cases a day. And Beijing’s after months of no cases recorded new cases yet shut cinemas
But like you said NYC and UK are no where near in the position to be opening.
The ethical dilemma is tough, but ultimately I would say it’s on the consciousness’ of consumers to make that decision whether seeing a film is worth the risk. No one has a gun held to their heads, they’re plenty of VOD options and drive in cinemas for them to satisfy their interests. Kind of analogous to the coronavirus cruise ships debacle, people still continuing to go on cruises even after warnings and evidence of the diamond princess etc. Sure they can blame negligence on cruise ships but really were they forced to go? No, and some used their brain and got refunds
In terms of marketing, WB haven’t done that and ethically they shouldn’t and I hope they don’t.
Last edited by intersteIIarx on June 14th, 2020, 10:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
I think the problem with really putting this on the consumer is the theatrical window. The very idea of it is restricting choice - if you wanna see the film for its first 4 months of release, you have to go to the cinema. In an ideal word, I'd say any film that's released before the situation is truly under control and risk of going to cinemas is minimised, needs to have a reasonably timed if not simultaneous at home viewing option.
At this point drive-ins is what I'm really hoping for. US and Australia are there on that front. UK though is feeling like a longshot, in spite of tons opening up over the coming weeks, because they're all working off the repertory screenings model.
I saw Judd Apatow pull King of Staten Island from drive-ins. Do you think Nolan when the time comes will give drive-ins the green light or will WB want it to happen regardless to maximise revenue? Because I just don’t see them doing day and date release
