First look at Christopher Nolan’s mystery action epic, Tenet

By Matt Maytum
published

Starring John David Washington as a new protagonist

John David Washington stars in Christopher Nolan's Tenet
(Image credit: Warner Bros)

Tenet, the new movie from Christopher Nolan, is arriving in cinemas in July 2020, and as of right now, very little is known about it. A brief teaser trailer was released in cinemas only with Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, but it never found its way online.

Well, we now at least have a new image to sate us. As featured in the upcoming 2020 Preview of our sister publication Total Film magazine, the new shot (above) features sharply dressed star John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) inspecting a bullethole in a window.

The taglines on the aforementioned cinema-only teaser stated: “Time has come for a new protagonist. Time has come for a new kind of mission.” Just what is Washington’s as yet unnamed character involved with?

Joining Washington are Elizabeth Debicki (Widows) and future Batman Robert Pattinson in similarly undisclosed roles. They’re all Nolan newbies, as are other cast members Dimple Kapadia, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Clémence Poésy. The only veteran Nolan players of the cast are Kenneth Branagh (Dunkirk) and Michael Caine (a Nolan lucky charm since his Batman Begins days).

Tenet is very vaguely described as “an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage,” but given that this is a Nolan movie, that description is probably barely scratching the surface. Pattinson has called the script “unreal”.

The film’s official teaser account recently sprung to life with a spinning video of Tenet’s title treatment. Check it out below. A sign that more info will be on the way soon? Only time will tell.

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Tenet opens on July 17. For more on the most anticipated films of next year, check out the 2020 Preview issue of Total Film magazine, which hits shelves on December 20. Also included with the issue is a huge Review of 2019, rounding up the best films and must-see moments of the past 12 months.

Total Film's 2020 Preview issue comes with a 2019 Review of the Year

(Image credit: Total Film)

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(Image credit: Total Film)
Matt Maytum
Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.