Warner Bros. considered the Batman movie franchise to be all but dead following the disappointment of 1997’s Batman & Robin, but Christopher Nolan successfully saved the Caped Crusader’s big-screen adventures with 2005’s Batman Begins. By bringing a refreshingly gritty realism to the story of Bruce Wayne, Nolan offered fans a vision of Batman they’d never seen before.
Since the success of The Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan has focused on telling original stories, such as the Oscar-nominated Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk. However, there are a handful of other franchises that he could revitalize with a reboot.
Star Trek
Gene Roddenberry conceived Star Trek as a vehicle to push social commentary through sci-fi stories. However, the rebooted “Kelvin Timeline” has focused mostly on spectacular action, with J.J. Abrams taking more influence from Star Wars than previous Trek media.
Based on the thought-provoking themes and mind-bending twists of Interstellar, Christopher Nolan could do wonders with the Enterprise’s mission across the stars.
Godzilla
Christopher Nolan has yet to make a full-on monster movie, but the large-scale spectacle of Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy would suggest that his monster movie would be awesome.
Similarly, Hollywood has yet to make a really great Godzilla movie. The original movie’s use of its kaiju menace as a metaphor for then-contemporary fears of nuclear weapons was what made it a masterpiece, but all the American remakes have ignored that aspect. The Godzilla franchise needs a reboot that taps into the political overtones of the original, and Nolan could be the man for the job.
Planet Of The Apes
Since Matt Reeves’ Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy ended with War for the Planet of the Apes and Disney has acquired the franchise in its merger with 21st Century Fox, it’s only a matter of time before a Planet of the Apes reboot comes along.
The next filmmaker to tackle the Planet of the Apes saga should jump further into the future, exploring the dystopian ape-filled society seen in the earlier movies. Nolan’s grasp of the sci-fi genre has been widely acclaimed. He could be the right director to reinvigorate the Planet of the Apes franchise.
Daredevil
It seems unlikely that Marvel Studios is planning to follow up the unexpected cancellation of Netflix’s Daredevil with a series of solo movies following Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock around the crime-infested Hell’s Kitchen depicted in the series.
But if that is the plan, Christopher Nolan would be the ideal director for an MCU Daredevil movie. He could bring the same gritty realism to the Man Without Fear’s on-screen antics that he brought to The Dark Knight trilogy.
Jaws
Nolan has never made a straightforward horror movie, although there’s plenty of terror to be found in the Joker’s reign of terror in The Dark Knight, the unwinnable conflicts of Dunkirk, and Robin Williams’ unnervingly calm serial killer character in Insomnia.
It would be fascinating to see Nolan’s take on the well-worn shark thriller subgenre. A gritty, realistic Jaws reboot helmed by Nolan could dig even deeper into the story’s Moby-Dick man-versus-nature themes than the Spielberg original.
George A. Romero’s Dead Series
George A. Romero defined the modern zombie with his seminal classic Night of the Living Dead and perfected his new horror subgenre with his anti-consumerist masterpiece Dawn of the Dead. These were followed by several more Dead movies with varying quality.
Since Romero created the undead, we’ve seen a bunch of different filmmakers’ take on the concept: Danny Boyle, Zack Snyder, and even Jim Jarmusch. It would be just as awesome to see a Christopher Nolan zombie movie.
Terminator
It’s time the Terminator franchise got back to its roots. Since the success of T2, the Terminator movies have been all-out action blockbusters trying to top each other’s explosive set pieces, but the original movie was an intimate noir, much like Christopher Nolan’s directorial debut Following.
After franchise creator James Cameron himself failed to rejuvenate the Terminator series with Dark Fate, Nolan could be the filmmaker to find the ideal balance between the post-T2 action-packed spectacle and the gritty, small-scale tone of the original movie.
Frankenstein
James Whale’s 1931 classic is still the greatest adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but the themes of the story are so universal that any director can come along with their own interpretation of a mad scientist learning the dangers of playing God the hard way.
Given Nolan’s track record for directing rich, complex science fiction epics, it would be interesting to see his version of the Frankenstein story and how he adds his own unique flavor to the film.
Superman
Christopher Nolan is credited as a producer on Man of Steel, and David S. Goyer’s script was drawn from a story idea he conceived with Nolan, but with its Randian overtones and rock-‘em-sock-‘em final battle, Man of Steel is most certainly a Zack Snyder movie.
It would be great to see Nolan realize his original vision for Man of Steel in a new Superman reboot. The initial trailers for Man of Steel promised a bleak Terrence Malick-esque existential drama that we still have yet to see.
James Bond
Fans have been clamoring for a Bond movie directed by Christopher Nolan for years. The globetrotting adventures and high-octane spy action of Tenet offered a glimpse at what a Nolan-helmed Bond movie might look like, but it was let down by its confusing sci-fi elements.
With Daniel Craig departing from the role of 007, the franchise will be in need of a radical reinvention. A taut, sleek, stylized Bond actioner directed by Nolan could be a great way to introduce the next actor to don the tuxedo.