Christopher Nolan's Tenet movie delayed again, this time indefinitely

By Brittany Roston/July 20, 2020 5:24 pm EST

The upcoming Christopher Nolan movie Tenet, a title that is expected to be one of the year's biggest films, has been delayed once again. Originally scheduled for release in July, the movie was later bumped to August amid a larger reshuffle caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Warner Bros. has made the decision to delay the movie yet again, but this time it is keeping the next release date a secret.

The coronavirus pandemic caused a multi-month pause on movie and television production around the world, resulting in a cascade of delays that required premiere dates to be bumped later into the year...or, in some cases, into 2021. In addition, movie theater closures prompted some companies to delay the scheduled premieres for movies that were already completed but would be impacted by the shutdown.

Tenet, the latest time-bending movie from Christopher Nolan, was originally scheduled to hit theaters on July 17. That date was later bumped to August 12, but as many people expected, that date won't work either. Warner Bros. said in a statement to Variety that the decision has been made to delay the movie indefinitely — fans will have to wait to find out when it will finally hit theaters.

The company is still anticipating a release date in 2020, according to Warner Bros. Chairman Toby Emmerich, but it's unclear when that will happen. In explaining the reason for the delays, Emmerich said, "Our goals throughout this process have been to ensure the highest odds of success for our films while also being ready to support our theater partners with new content as soon as they could safely reopen."

Overall, the reopening of cinemas and the number of people willing to visit them remain uncertain. Public health officials have warned that a second spike in COVID-19 cases may appear this autumn, coinciding with the flu season. In a worst-case scenario, cities around the world may face the return of stricter social distancing rules and even closures, leaving many companies in limbo.