Tenet gets new release date and will debut internationally before US launch

This unusual move, necessitated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema attendance, has now been confirmed, with the sci-fi thriller now set to debut internationally on 26th August.

70 international territories will get to see Tenet from next month, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Russia. (There are no announced plans as yet to release the film in China, the world’s second-biggest movie market.)

The film will then open in select cities in North America from 2nd September.

Tenet was previously delayed three times due to the pandemic – originally scheduled for a 17th July release, it was later pushed to 31st July and then 12th August.

The plot of Tenet – which stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine and Kenneth Branagh – remains shrouded in mystery. Washington (BlacKkKlansman) plays an operative in the film working for an organisation known as "Tenet" who is tasked with preventing World War III.

A synopsis for the movie reads: "Armed with only one word—Tenet—and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time."

Tenet has been one of many movies to be forced to change its released plans in the wake of COVID-19, with Disney recently removing the live-action Mulan from its release schedule and Paramount pushing A Quiet Place 2 from 4th September to April 2021.

• When it comes to Tenet's release date, Hollywood needs to think internationally

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