This combination shows Yifei Liu in the title role of "Mulan," left, and John David Washington in a scene from "Tenet." On Thursday, Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” will arrive in U.S. theaters, the first big movie to head to cinemas since the pandemic began. The next day, Disney’s “Mulan” will try an innovative streaming release. Two divergent paths for the film industry collide in one weekend. (Jasin Boland/Disney via AP, left, and Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP)

FILE - Posters for upcoming movies are displayed in an empty corridor at the currently closed AMC Burbank Town Center 8 movie theaters complex on April 29, 2020, in Burbank, Calif. After several false starts, the film industry is hoping to bring new releases back into movie theaters in late August. But for blockbusters, it may mean rethinking opening weekend and returning to a more gradual rollout through international and U.S. territories. Gone for now are the days of massive global openings. And theater owners say if they don't get new films soon, they may not make it to 2021. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Betty Gallagher, left, carries popcorn and drinks beside Mary MacBeth as they pass by the ticket checkpoint, heading off to see, "I Still Believe", one of the first showings at the AMC theatre when it re-opened for the first time since shutting down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in West Homestead, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows John David Washington in a scene from "Tenet." (Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP)

FILE - This Feb. 5, 2018 file photo shows director Christopher Nolan at the 90th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif. Nolan's film "Tenet" is the first major Hollywood film in the COVID-era to open in U.S. cinemas in almost six months. Nolan says he is pleased with Warner Bros.' slow, patient roll out of the film, which opens in the U.S. this week. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Concessions workers stock the bins with popcorn and other treats as the theatre opens for some of the first showings at the AMC theatre when it re-opened for the first time since shutting down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in West Homestead, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

This image released by Disney shows Yifei Liu in the title role of "Mulan." (Jasin Boland/Disney via AP)