'Tenet': Christopher Nolan Blew Up Real Boeing 747; Robert Pattinson Calls It 'Ridiculous'

Christopher Nolan reportedly purchased a real airplane that he then blew up for his upcoming film, “Tenet.”

Instead of relying on the film production’s traditional visual effects, Nolan amped up his action movie by using a real prop. One scene of his 2020 espionage epic “Tenet” features a real Boeing 747 airplane that will crash into a building and eventually explode.

In most films, this would normally be done via computer-generated imagery or CGI. But for Nolan — an Oscar nominated filmmaker long known for opting for more practical effects over the technology mediated — the plane is actually a real movie prop purchased by the director-producer himself just to pull off the stunt.

As to why he chose such a death-or-glory ordeal, Nolan explained the cinematic spectacle in an interview with Total Film.

“I planned to do it using miniatures and set-piece builds and a combination of visual effects and all the rest,” the filmmaker revealed to TF.

But while the film director and his team were scouting for locations in Victorville, California, they were able to come across a massive array of old planes, which was then followed by a spur-of-the-moment purchase of said plane.

“We started to run the numbers... It became apparent that it would actually be more efficient to buy a real plane of the real size, and perform this sequence for real in camera, rather than build miniatures or go the CG route,” he explained.

Though the director agrees that the plane purchase was definitely out of “impulse,” the choice to do so did his movie good.

“It worked very well, with Scott Fisher, our special-effects supervisor, and Nathan Crowley, the production designer, figuring out how to pull off this big sequence in camera,” Nolan shared. “It was a very exciting thing to be a part of.”

Meanwhile, unlike Nolan and his team who felt enthused with the uncanny idea, Robert Pattinson — one of the actors appearing in the film — initially felt otherwise. The “Twilight” alum told GQ magazine early May that every action set piece for Nolan’s “Tenet” feels like the climax of an action movie.

Pattinson also found the use of a real Boeing 747 for the film scene’s explosion “bold to the point of ridiculousness,” thinking that the idea was too far-fetched in every sense, as per TF. The actor recalled the time they were about to shoot the scene and asked himself if this would ever happen in other films.

“Tenet” is slated for release via Warner Bros. productions on July 17 in theaters nationwide. But release dates can still vary depending on the COVID-19 pandemic and whether or not theaters will be re-opening.