Christopher Nolan's Tenet moved two weeks ahead to 31 July as cinemas open in the US, announces Warner Bros

The closely watched arrival of Christopher Nolan’s big-budget sci-fi espionage film Tenet will finally happen on July 31, Warner Bros announced Friday.

The studio said it would delay the release by two weeks and instead re-issue Nolan’s 2010 sci-fi blockbuster Inception in mid-July. According to Deadline , Inception’s special 10th-anniversary release will give audience a peek into never-before-seen footage from Tenet and an exclusive look at Warner Bros’ upcoming films.

The release date for Tenet has been closely watched in all corners of the film industry, which has faced shuttered theatres due to the coronavirus since mid-March. US cinemas plan to reopen in July for a vastly different summer season than the one the industry had planned.

The Marvel film Black Widow and the ninth instalment in the Fast & Furious franchise, both expected to arrive in the early summer, have delayed their releases.

Warner Bros also announced Friday that Wonder Woman 1984 , a sequel to its 2017 hit, would shift from an August release to 2 October.

Tenet will arrive in theatres a week after Disney’s live-action version of Mulan is released on 24 July.

When the studio released the film’s trailer in May, it didn’t include a release date, simply stating, “Coming to theaters.” The film stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson , Elizabeth Debicki and Michael Caine.

“We’re especially thrilled, in this complex and rapidly changing environment, to be bringing Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, a global tentpole of jaw-dropping size, scope and scale, to theatres around the world on 31 July,” Warner Bros. Picture Group Chairman Toby Emmerich said, according to Reuters.

(With inputs from agencies)