Christopher Nolan, director of intelligent blockbuster movies like Interstellar, Tenet, and Inception, along with the Dark Knight trilogy, has been making waves in Hollywood in the past couple of weeks.
It has been announced that his new movie will be released by Universal after leaving Warner Bros. due to a well-documented break-up. Any news about a new Nolan movie is big news, as there are few details about his films that are revealed before a trailer. But there's just enough information with this big move for any film buff to get excited.
It's About The Invention Of The Atomic Bomb
Nolan loves to keep his cards close to his chest when it comes to his movies. Unlike other screenplays circling Hollywood, even ones from movie auteurs, Nolan's screenplays never leak to the public. And that work ethic continues through pre-production, production, and post-production. Rarely do audiences know what the movie is properly about until they're in movie theatres watching it. When it comes to movies like Tenet, some fans didn't know what it was about even after they had seen it.
Though it might be the last bit of information about the plot that fans will ever get until the movie's trailer, Nolan's next movie will be about the invention of the atomic bomb. There are a lot of fans of the director who think Nolan should direct a video game movie, but he'll be investing his time in another war movie. It sounds like it could be somewhat of a biopic, as it'll be based around J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who headed the Manhattan Project.
It'll Be Nolan's First Movie Not With Warner Bros.
Christopher Nolan had had a great relationship with Warner Bros. for almost two decades. The director and studio have worked together since Nolan's 2002 crime thriller Insomnia, and for the most part, the studio has given him creative freedom, even when it comes to Batman. But in the past few months, there has been a breakdown in their relationship.
That reached boiling point when Warner Bros. announced that all of their movies in 2021 would have a day-and-date release on HBO Max. However, since Nolan has been highly critical of HBO Max in the past, calling it "the worst streaming service," it's no surprise that he began looking elsewhere. After shopping around, he struck a deal with Universal for his next movie, and the movie studio wants him so bad that it's seemingly adhering to every demand that Nolan has, and he has a lot.
It'll Have A Theatrical Release
There are so many cinema auteurs and famous movie makers switching to streaming services, even directors whose movies are made to be seen on the big screen. But that's simply because streaming platforms are giving the filmmakers the creative freedom and the necessary budget that studios no longer will. It was looking like Nolan's future was heading the same way, as the Netflix Film Chief said he would, "do anything I can" to get Nolan on board.
But Christopher Nolan has always been a champion of cinema, and part of the reason that he's burned all bridges with Warner Bros. is because of the studio's focus on HBO Max. Nolan's upcoming movie will not be exclusive to streaming, and there won't be any day-and-date release either. Instead, the biopic will be exclusively shown in movie theatres.
Universal Will Solely Focus On Nothing Else For Six Weeks Surrounding The Movie
Nolan had a ton of demands when he moved to Universal, and one of those demands was already being carried out by Warner Bros. for most of his movies too. Not only will the movie have an exclusive theatrical run with Universal, but the studio can't release another movie three weeks on either side of the Oppenheimer biopic's release (according to The Hollywood Reporter).
Universal's sole focus for six weeks will be on the biopic. The studio won't release a movie three weeks before its release, and there'll be a three-week blackout period after its release. That means no other Universal-distributed movie will interfere with the movie's box office results.
Cillian Murphy Might Play Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy was almost Batman in the Nolan-directed Batman Begins, and he got so far that there was even a screen test. But while that didn't happen, he did go on to play Scarecrow in the origins movie and even had a small role in the two sequels. Since then, Murphy and Nolan have had a close working relationship, as the actor has starred in the filmmaker's Inception and Dunkirk, and that could continue if reports are true.
According to Deadline, Murphy is in talks for a "key role," and though it doesn't explicitly state that role as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the two have a weirdly uncanny resemblance to one another. What makes this more exciting is that the actor has never been the sole lead actor in a major Hollywood movie. This movie could change that and he may even finally get noticed at the Academy Awards.
It Will Be On A Refreshingly Smaller Scale
Over the years, Nolan's budgets have ballooned, as even the films that aren't in the Dark Knight trilogy have been getting much bigger in scope. Inception had a budget of $160 million, Intersterllar's was $165 million, and Tenet had an astounding budget of $200 million. However, in negotiating with Universal, Nolan has asked for a relatively minuscule $100 million, which is closer to Memento's $9 million budget than Tenet's. The news of the small budget is refreshing to hear, as the director's smaller-scale movies like Memento and Insomnia are some of his best work that don't get enough recognition.
Not only that, but the movie will also have a marketing budget equal to the salary. That's usually the rule of thumb when it comes to how much studios spend on promoting the movie, though some spend significantly less, and, on rare occasions, some spend significantly more. It'd be surprising if Universal doesn't spend more on the marketing, considering how the $100 million budget is considerably low for Nolan.
The Story Hasn't Been Told On The Big Screen Since 1989
There have been hundreds of movies based around World War II. Every filmmaker from the likes of Quentin Tarantino to Steven Spielberg has made one, and in some cases, several. But there has only been one major movie about the development of the atomic bomb, Fat Man and Little Boy, which was released in 1989. However, the movie bombed at the box office and was widely negatively received, holding a rotten 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.
There was also a movie called The Manhattan Project that was released in 1989, but that was a sci-fi thriller. Nolan is again using the film format to tell a story that has gone largely untold. And there's no doubt that there's much more to the story, where Nolan will subvert expectations and mess with time in some way, just as he always does. Even his movies based on real-life events, such as Dunkirk, aren't always what they seem.
Nolan Has Full Creative Freedom
As is always the case with Nolan-directed movies, the filmmaker will have creative freedom. As if that wasn't obvious already with his long list of demands that Universal has bent over backward for. It makes sense for Universal to give him creative freedom, as Nolan is possibly the most trusted director working today. Warner Bros. treated him the same way, and he always delivers.
However, though there has been no update on this, it'd be safe to assume that Universal would want the movie to remain PG-13, meaning bloodless fight scenes and infrequent use of bad language. It's hard to imagine that Universal would allow its arm to be twisted back by Nolan and agree to all of his terms, only to get an R-rated movie return. But the director surely wouldn't have a problem with making a PG-13 movie, as he hasn't made an R-rated film since Insomnia.