'Tenet', Christopher Nolan's new film, will open internationally before the US

The new thriller from director Christopher Nolan will open internationally on August 26, Warner Bros. said on Monday. The film will then be released a week later in the United States for the Labor Day weekend opening on September 2.

"Tenet," which has been delayed multiple times because of coronavirus, will open in 70 countries starting on August 26. Some of the major countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Warner Bros., which produced "Tenet," is a unit of AT&T, which also owns CNN, said the film will open in select cities in the US but did not specify which cities.

The film was originally set to open in July before it was delayed to August 12. Warner Bros. said last week that they would be delaying the film again citing "continued uncertainty."

"Our goals throughout this process have been to ensure the highest odds of success for our films while also being ready to support our theater partners with new content as soon as they could safely reopen," Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said in a statement last week. "Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to proliferate, causing us to reevaluate our release dates."

The film having a set release date, at least for now, is a big deal for the film industry.

Major theater chains are attempting to reopen amid the worldwide outbreak, but it's difficult to entice audiences to return to theaters without a new major blockbuster to sell tickets. "Tenet," a twisty, mysterious film from one of the most popular directors in Hollywood, represents that potential blockbuster.

AMC Theatres, the world's biggest movie-theater chain, said last week it was postponing the reopening of its US theaters to "mid-to-late August" to better align with the expected release dates of blockbusters like "Tenet."

Disney also announced last week that "Mulan," another potential blockbuster which was set for August 21, was being taken off the calendar because of the global health crisis.

The studio did not give a new release date for "Mulan," which has been repeatedly delayed since March because of the pandemic.