The TV series Christopher Nolan refused to direct: “We were relentless in pursuing him”
Big-name directors are more likely than ever to take their talents to the small screen in the age of prestige television and streaming; just don’t expect Christopher Nolan to be one of them.
The Academy Award-winning filmmaker has always been one of the staunchest and most vocal supporters of the theatrical experience, and his thoughts on streaming speak for themselves. Still, plenty of storied cinephiles have helmed at least an episode or two of TV, with Nolan continuing to hold out.
Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Tim Burton, Jane Campion, the Wachowskis, Steven Soderbergh, and Spike Lee are just some of the names who’ve turned their attention to TV, even if it was just for an episode or two, but Nolan refuses to commit.
Obviously, any series on the planet would kill to have a director of his calibre, but he probably doesn’t have to reject too many offers when everyone in the industry knows he’s a cinema guy through and through. However, one intrepid showrunner thought they stood a better chance than most because they were fully aware Nolan was a massive fan of their work.
Will Forte’s MacGruber started off as a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live before becoming the subject of a feature-length movie in 2010. It may have bombed at the box office and been greeted with a shrug of indifference by critics, but it quickly attained cult classic status.
One of its biggest fans was Nolan, who admitted the movie was one of his ultimate guilty pleasures and had left him “howling uncontrollably”. Not only that, but Anne Hathaway revealed that she knew it was a good day on the set of The Dark Knight Rises when its director started randomly firing out MacGruber quotes.
With that in mind, when it was announced that a MacGruber show was in the works for the streaming service Peacock, creator Jorma Taccone set his sights as high as possible and offered an olive branch to Nolan to come in and take charge of any episode he wanted.
“We were relentless in pursuing him,” the Lonely Island alum admitted to Collider. “He sent us a super sweet note. He couldn’t come to the table read, but we invited him to the table read. I honestly have been too up his butt. We offered him any episode that he wanted to direct. I think he’s gotten to a point where he’s like, ‘I’m not gonna actually be a part of your world, but I do appreciate it.'”
Nolan being a MacGruber fan is surprising enough, but having one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed and successful auteurs directing an episode of the TV show would have been the icing on the very strange cake. Sadly, it wasn’t to be.
