Christopher Nolan’s Tenet has had a tumultuous 2020 to say the least. The film was originally expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, then the pandemic happened and sent the movie industry into chaos. The film’s release date was moved several times, and became symbolic of the value of the movie theater experience compared to viewing movies at home.
For many, going to a theater to see any movie amid the COVID-19 crisis is a risk too big to take, and Tenet‘s box office numbers certainly showed that. But if you still haven’t seen Tenet, your options to do so will increase on Tuesday when the film gets its digital and physical release. Ahead of that, Warner Bros. released the first six minutes of Tenet on YouTube on Friday, calling it the film’s prologue and finally giving those who have refused the box office offering a chance to see it for themselves.
It’s certainly an interesting decision to put it on YouTube given just how insistent Christopher Nolan was on giving moviegoers the full silver screen treatment for the mind-bending work. But the prologue’s release on the platform also serves as an ad for a special Q&A Nolan is doing for the movie on December 20. He’s sure to say something interesting about the film, and perhaps the state of the movie industry itself given all the HBO Max controversy that’s followed this extremely strange year at the movies.