Why Christopher Nolan will never make a low-budget movie again: “I have the responsibility”
It’s easy to forget that before Christopher Nolan became the most popular director of his generation, he was making scrappy, low-budget independent thrillers like Following and Memento. Nolan was first granted the opportunity to work with a substantial budget on Batman Begins, and after two decades, he hasn’t looked back.
There isn’t another director working today who has built a brand as powerful and consistently successful as Christopher Nolan. Nolan’s name generates excitement for a film like no other director can, as even all-time geniuses like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Ridley Scott have released as few box office bombs in recent years, even if they were well-received.
Although Nolan is often compared to James Cameron, it’s hard to make the case that they are on equal playing fields, and since Cameron hasn’t made a non-Avatar film in nearly 30 years, it’s tough to say whether he is more popular than the franchise that he created. However, Nolan has managed to make blockbusters out of everything he touches; the fact that he was able to make a three-hour biopic about the man who invented the atomic bomb into a smash hit that grossed nearly $1billion (which also swept the Academy Awards) is still astounding.
Nolan is clearly respected by his peers, having recently been named the new President of the Directors’ Guild, and clearly takes his responsibilities seriously. In addition to advocating for shooting on film, as opposed to digital, Nolan famously ended his relationship with Warner Bros when the studio began sending all of its movies directly to HBO Max on their same day of theatrical release.
Nolan’s crusade to save movie theatres couldn’t have been waged at a better time, as the impending sale of Warner Bros to Netflix means that there could be even fewer theatrically released films. Studios like Disney, Amazon, and Paramount have already adopted hybrid releases and occasionally choose to send new releases directly to their streaming services. If the box office has proven anything, it’s that the films that audiences will trek out to see on the big screen are those that are massive in spectacle, such as this year’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, F1, or How To Train Your Dragon.
Based on these circumstances, it’s not hard to understand why Nolan doesn’t feel like he can make a low-budget film again, with him telling The Hollywood Reporter that he sought to serve as an example for younger filmmakers, who may not have access to the same resources.
“I’m drawn to working at a large scale because I know how fragile the opportunity to marshal those resources is,” Nolan said. “I know that there are so many filmmakers out there in the world who would give their eye teeth to have the resources I put together, and I feel I have the responsibility to use them in the most productive and interesting way.”
Although Hollywood is often lambasted for their excessive budgets, Nolan is distinct in that he was able to create massive films that aren’t based on existing franchises, because after The Dark Knight trilogy, he created two original sci-fi films with Interstellar and Tenet, as well as two epic World War II dramas with Dunkirk and Oppenheimer.
The fact that The Odyssey, his latest film, might end up being the biggest release of a year that also includes Avengers: Doomsday, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Toy Story 5 seems like a promising sign for the industry.
