Is Your Brand a Tenet or a James Bond?

Oscar nominations have been announced.

Despite most people not setting foot in a movie theater over the last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will hold its annual award ceremony next month.

Studios had a tough choice to make in deciding whether to release during the pandemic. For nominated films like Nomadland, the Oscar buzz means the decision paid off. But for blockbusters that really rely on that big-screen experience, the choice was even harder.

Take Christopher Nolan’s latest mind-bending thriller, Tenet. Nolan himself said the film was designed for a “big screen experience.” Despite pandemic restrictions, Nolan and distributers released Tenet in theaters last fall. It made just $57.9 million domestically. By comparison, Nolan’s The Dark Knight made nearly 10 times that.

Other movies opted to delay release, like the upcoming James Bond movie No Time to Die. Despite being one of the most expensive films ever made, the 25^th Bond installment just can’t seem to find its way in front of audiences. It’s now slated for a September 2021 release, nearly two years after it was first planned to hit the big screen. Even die-hard Bond fans are growing weary of waiting.

Complicating the decision is the constant threat of disruption from streaming services like HBOMax, which formed a pandemic partnership with Warner Bros. to debut new films on the platform the same day they hit theaters.

Companies at a Crossroads

It’s not just Hollywood movie studios that are struggling with decisions like these. As pandemic restrictions stretch into their second year, brands of all kinds are re-evaluating whether they should make the best of it with current industry disruptions or wait and hope for a return to normal.

From product launches and upgrades to mergers and strategic pivots, brands have to ask themselves: Are we a Tenet or a James Bond?