During negotiations with Universal for his new film, Christopher Nolan asked for an extra-long theatrical window before it goes to streaming platforms. The director has long been making movies geared for the theatrical market, from the glossy superhero spectacle of his Dark Knight trilogy to his cerebral puzzle box thrillers like Inception. Nolan has been famous for using IMAX technology and generally striving to make his films as huge as possible.
However, in 2020, this instinct for theatrical presentation clashed with the closure of theaters worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While many films were either delayed or released directly onto streaming services, Nolan criticized studios, saying that, "movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service." His insistence on releasing Tenet exclusively in theaters in summer 2020, just a few months into the pandemic, was controversial for audiences and critics.
Per Variety, Nolan has not changed his feelings about the type of release his films get. Although Tenet underperformed theatrically, during negotiations to get his upcoming film picked up by Universal, one of Nolan's big asks was a longer window between theatrical release and streaming. This makes sense, considering that a huge reason for Nolan leaving Warner Bros. was their decision to release their 2021 slate on HBO Max. The industry standard for 2021 has been a 45-day window, but he has asked for between 90 and 120 days. It is unclear if he will get his wish, but Universal has already acquiesced to allow the film to be exempt from the adjustable 17 or 31-day window it has previously promised theater chains.
The film in question is an as-yet-untitled World War II film. It will follow J. Robert Oppenheimer's involvement in creating the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy (who has been frequently working with Nolan since his appearance in 2005's Batman Begins and starred in the director's previous WWII film Dunkirk) is rumored to be considered for the lead.
Christopher Nolan is definitely taking a gamble with this. Although theaters are slowly opening back up and certain films like Marvel's Shang-Chi are breaking box office records, ticket numbers generally aren't as robust as they used to be. Indeed, the upcoming movie release schedule remains in a constant state of flux following Top Gun 2 fleeing from a Thanksgiving '21 release to Memorial Day '22. Big budget spectacles are being hit especially hard in the modern age, and that's exclusively what Nolan traffics in, so it will be interesting to see if this next film is a success and whether or not he changes his tack after its release.
Source: Variety