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No one knows what Tenet is about, not even some of its actors (opens in new tab). But there’s a reason for that. Kenneth Branagh, who is set to appear in the time-twisting summer blockbuster, has outlined Tenet director Christopher Nolan’s surprisingly low-key approach to avoiding spoilers and scripts from leaking out.
First, there’s the personal touch. As Branagh explained to Collider (opens in new tab), Nolan hand-delivered his script.
“The door knocked, I opened the door and standing at the door was an international film director called Chris Nolan. He had an envelope under his arm and he said ‘I’ve come to deliver the script to you.’ It doesn’t get more personal than that,” Branagh said.
Of course, the small matter of the Tenet plot and story details inevitably arose. Branagh, perhaps mindful of his days working as a keeper of secrets in the MCU as Thor (opens in new tab) director, asked, “How will we talk about this?” The reply “24 hours from now, sir, I will give you a telephone call and we will discuss it.”
“It’s as simple as that,” Branagh continued. “[Nolan] says, ‘It’d be nice if we maybe kept this to ourselves…’ Nobody signs anything. It’s a handshake and a level of trust.”
So, no NDAs, no locked rooms to access scripts, and certainly no blood oaths. There’s just a handshake, your word and Nolan’s. And Tenet is safe.
That level of trust, understandably, caused some consternation with Branagh, who said, “When there are new scripts, I run to Chris’ associate producer, Andy [Thompson], who will take from me either my script or replace the pages that are changed. But I don’t ever want to have a script that isn’t locked in my bag.” He later joked, “If you’re traveling to location and you’re reading it… frankly, on a Nolan film, you think about that before your passport.”
Presumably, every major actor in Tenet has been trusted in a similar, understated fashion. The proof is in the pudding: the only thing we’ve learned about Tenet from Branagh’s words is maybe we shouldn’t go on holiday with him anytime soon.
- AMC plans to re-open most of its US and UK cinemas in time for Tenet in July (opens in new tab)
- Christopher Nolan explains why they crashed a real 747 instead of using CG (opens in new tab)
- John David Washington on Tenet: “It’s its own genre: it’s the Nolan genre.” (opens in new tab)
