First look pics for Tenet tease Christopher Nolan’s ambitious espionage film

Up until this point, much about Christopher Nolan's new film, TENET, has remained cloaked in shadow. And while fans impatiently wait for a trailer to the INCEPTION helmer's latest feature, Entertainment Weekly has emerged as the first to debut images from the upcoming film. However, before we get to the goods, it's my pleasure to inform you that Nolan also revealed some new details about TENET to the outlet, so perhaps you'd better sit down for the remainder of this article.

“We’re jumping off from the point of view of an espionage film, but we’re going to a number of different places,” Nolan explains about what is clearly his most ambitious project to date. “We’re crossing a few different genres in a hopefully exciting and fresh way. [Producer] Emma [Thomas] and I have put together a lot of large-scale productions, but this is certainly the biggest in terms of international reach. We shot in seven countries, all over the place, with a massive cast and huge set pieces. There’s no question, it’s the most ambitious film we’ve made.”

The film, which has been described as “an action epic evolving from the world of international espionage,” stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Kenneth Branagh. In talking about the film's characters, Nolan told EW that Washington is “very much the hero” of his latest big screen spectacle. “He’s a massively talented actor and physically gifted,” Nolan gushed. “He’s an athlete and pretty hard for anybody to keep up with, including the different vehicles we shot him from — cars and helicopters. [Laughs] This guy moves.”

While Nolan had remained tight-lipped about the plot of the film, it was Washington who spoke about one of TENET's more harrowing action sequences. “I was terrified, but when Christopher Nolan yelled ‘Action!’ I had to throw all that away and make it look cool,” Washington recalls about shooting a scene that involved driving a boat with Debicki as his passenger. When asked about why he was terrified, Washington confessed “Because it’s a boat, man!” He then added, “I don’t know how to drive a boat! But I had to act like I did.”

We expect that a trailer for TENET will drop on Thursday, so be sure to check back with us then, when much about Christopher Nolan's mysterious new project is brought to light.

TENET will arrive in theaters on July 17, 2020.