Christopher Nolan claims streaming has “created problems for everybody”
Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan has discussed the impact of streaming on the world of cinema, claiming it has “created problems for everybody”.
Nolan’s latest comments follow previous remarks he’s made on this topic and the changing of the cinematic landscape. In 2020, the British filmmaker described the move to streaming as “a sign of great danger” and alleged it was an agenda being pushed by corporations rather than a result of the general public shying away from movie theatres.
Following Tenet, Nolan stopped his working relationship with Warner Bros and, in 2021, criticised their decision to exclusively release their batch of films on their streaming platform HBO Max. Instead, Oppenheimer was distributed by Universal.
In a new interview with Variety, Nolan revealed his fight with Warner Bros is now “water under the bridge” and is open to working with the company again after they installed new management. However, his opinion on streaming services remains unchanged.
He remarked: “Part of the craziness with the labor negotiations this summer has been the studios sitting there and going, ‘Well, we can’t pay you because we don’t have enough money’. To which the answer is ‘Well, you don’t have enough money because you’re not managing your business correctly.”
“‘You’re not getting the same amount of money for your product that you were before.’ The shift to streaming has disrupted the entire industry and created problems for everybody,” the director continued.
Additionally, in the same interview, Nolan explained why timing played a crucial role in the box-office success of Oppenheimer.
Nolan reflected: “With certain films, your timing is just right in ways that you never could have predicted. When you start making a film, you’re two or three years out from when it’s going to be released, so you’re trying to hit a moving target as far as the interest of the audience. But sometimes you catch a wave and the story you’re telling is one people are waiting for.”
In other news, Sundance Film Festival recently revealed they plan to honour Nolan at their opening night gala on January 18th, 2024. He is set to receive the inaugural ‘Sundance Institute Trailblazer Award’.
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