The first teaser trailer forChristopher Nolan’s next film,Tenet, is now confirmed to be playing in theaters ahead of theDwayne Johnson-Jason Stathamaction flickHobbs & Shaw. The teaser is currently unavailable online but we have a full description available thanks to this writer seeingHobbs & Shawearlier this week.
Previous reports likeScreenCrush’s indicated theTenetteaser was possibly only attached toHobbs & Shawshowings at Regal Theaters. It’s highly likely AMC might also be included in this agreement because when I attended a Thursday night showing ofHobbs & Shawat an AMC Theater, I saw theTenetteaser trailer.The Hollywood Reporterhas noted a similar occurrence in Los Angeles. The teaser is less than a minute long but is jam-packed with hints about what one can expect from the newest original film from Nolan.
The teaser begins with a shot ofTenet’s ostensible lead,John David Washington(BlackKklansman), standing in a room and investigating a bullet hole in a pane of glass. The room could possibly be an interrogation room (if not, the vibe of the room is quite similar). A title card cuts in and tells audiences “Time for a new protagonist.”
The teaser returns to Washington’s character. He touches the bullet hole in the glass and appears to step forward to another pane of glass. It looks like the same pane of glass with the bullet hole in exactly the same spot, only the bullet hole appears a bit bigger with more cracks emanating from it. Another title card cuts in: “Time for a new kind of mission.” The teaser then begins to rapidly cut back and forth between shots of the movie title logo, which features the “TEN” inTenetright-side-up and the “ET” upside-down. The entire logo appears to be moving like the hands of a clock. In between these shots are quick glimpses of Washington’s character: one of him leading a team, all dressed in black tactical military or SWAT gear with full face masks and helmets; a few quick shots of Washington’s character in action; finally, a shot of the character in a featureless room, wearing an oxygen mask. He comes to and looks forward as a door opens. We don’t see what’s behind it.
Specific plot details aboutTenetare being kept under wraps although a brief IMDb description notes the plot focuses on international espionage. Given the teaser shots of Washington’s character investigating two similar bullet holes, it’s possible Nolan is going to go all timey-wimey again and include a nonlinear timeline inTenet, too, much like his previous filmsMemento,Batman Begins, andInception. TheTenetteaser also fails to hint how Washington’s character connects to others, although there’s also a chance some of them were in the tactical team featured in the teaser.
In addition to Washington, theTenetcast includesRobert Pattinson,Elizabeth Debicki,ClémencePoésy,Kenneth Branagh, who previously worked with Nolan onDunkirk, andMichael Caine, who has had a role in every one of Nolan’s feature films sinceBatman Begins.Tenetis set to arrive in theaters on August 17, 2025.
