In 2020, the release of Christopher Nolan’s $200 million “Tenet” was in jeopardy, facing an indefinite delay as the Covid pandemic raged, leaving theaters shuttered. Over that summer, the director, a champion of the big-screen experience, wanted his espionage thriller to be the first major tentpole to debut in reopened cinemas. Former Warner Bros. Entertainment chief Ann Sarnoff and the studio’s motion picture chairman, Toby Emmerich, agreed to move forward with a theatrical release so long as Nolan forwent certain fees.

Following WarnerMedia’s 2022 merger with Discovery and ensuing regime change, newly installed motion picture group chiefs Michael DeLuca and Pamela Abdy were eager to see Nolan return to the studio; he had defected to Universal nine months before their arrival to make “Oppenheimer.” Nolan had a long history with the studio dating back to 2002’s “Insomnia.” As a goodwill gesture, Warner Bros. wrote him a seven-figure check, returning the “Tenet” fees he waived.