Christopher Nolan’s mind-boggling time thriller Tenet is returning to theaters and IMAX on February 23 for one week only, more than three years after its debut.
News on the two-and-a-half-hour adventure film’s second chance at the box office comes from Warner Bros. and Nolan himself. Following the unwavering support the director’s most recent film, Oppenheimer, received in theaters, his previous project is getting another shot.
Tenet’s theatrical re-release is being coordinated with the premiere of Denis Villeneuve’s highly anticipated sci-fi sequel, Dune: Part Two. That film is set to hit theaters March 1, with tickets set to go on sale tomorrow, January 26.
“Seeing the way audiences responded to our large format presentations of Oppenheimer,” Nolan said, “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.”
Although Tenet, which premiered in September 2020, managed to bring in a global total of $365,304,105, it was only able to achieve $58.5 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo. It was one of Nolan’s most ambitious projects, but the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as theater shutdowns no doubt damaged its potential. Now, with theaters in a better place, Tenet is primed to give audiences another chance to catch it on the big screen.
Tenet tickets are on sale now and include options for 70mm IMAX, Standard 70mm, and IMAX Digital.
“As an audience member, I have always valued Chris’s forward thinking when it comes to shooting on film and especially in large formats,” Villeneuve said. “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. Working with the IMAX format was the only way to capture the experience of Arrakis, Giedi Prime and the Imperium for audiences. 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.”
In our 8/10 review, we called Tenet a “thrilling addition” to Nolan’s strong library of films, even if its sense of “over-familiarity” held it back a bit.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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