Prologue for Christopher Nolan's 'TENET' coming to IMAX soon

A prologue for Christopher Nolan’s TENET has been officially rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPA), signalling the impending launch of a new preview of the hotly-anticipated 2020 film.

Although it’s not explicitly stated in the rating notification, it’s likely this prologue will take the form of an IMAX-exclusive sneak peek.

The Interstellar filmmaker has previously released IMAX-only prologues for The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Dunkirk which gave fans the chance to get an early look at his films ahead of release. Shot with large format cameras, the IMAX previews for his Batman films became cinema events in their own rights, showing Joker and Bane in action for the first time, while the Dunkirk prologue was more of an extended trailer for the WW2 film.

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These previews came attached to IMAX prints of I Am Legend, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story respectively and so Trailer Track – who broke the news, with a hat tip to NolanFans.com – suggests the TENET prologue will come attached to IMAX screenings of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

IMAX and Warner Bros. have been contacted for a statement.

Rated PG-13 for “violence and intense action”, it’s not yet clear what the TENET prologue will contain.

All we’ve seen from the highly secretive film - which stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Elizabeth Debicki - beyond vague paparazzi shots, is a brief teaser that’s never been officially released online.

That trailer, which launched in cinemas attached to Hobbs & Shaw: Fast & Furious, gave very little away plot wise.

“Time has come for a new protagonist,” read a title on the screen, with John David Washington’s character investigating a bullet hole in a window.

“Time has come for a new kind of mission,” reads a second title, with Washington repeating notably similar movements.

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Further footage shows Washington running while wearing riot gear, punching a man and appearing to be captured by two men, before concluding with a shot of him in an oxygen mask as a door swings open in front of him.

Filmed on location across seven countries, the film is described by Warner Bros. as “an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage”.

Nolan is directing from his own original screenplay, utilising a mixture of IMAX® and 70mm film to bring the story to the screen.

The international ensemble cast is led by John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) and also stars Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse), Elizabeth Debicki (Widows), Dimple Kapadia (Rudaali), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (A Million Little Pieces), Clémence Poésy (Harry Potter), with Michael Caine (The Dark Knight trilogy) and Kenneth Branagh (Dunkirk).

Read more: Dunkirk IMAX explained

The film is being produced by Nolan and Emma Thomas. Thomas Hayslip is serving as executive producer.

Nolan’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Hoyte van Hoytema, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Jennifer Lame, costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, and visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson. The score is being composed by Ludwig Göransson.

TENET is coming to cinemas 17 July, 2020.