Ever since Christopher Nolan won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for his hit historical drama “Oppenheimer” (four words that are rarely read together), the entire film industry has been closely watching the director's next move. Nolan's creative whims have always fueled industry speculation, but this time it wasn't just about what he would do next, but Where he would do it.
For almost a decade this was not a problem. After his breakthrough neo-noir masterpiece “Memento” made him one of the hottest young directors in Hollywood, Christopher Nolan made his first studio film “Insomnia” at Warner Bros. and called the big house in Burbank home for almost a decade. What has changed? The Covid pandemic and the subsequent decision by WB production chief Jason Kilar in 2020, through his Project Popcorn initiative, to release the company's entire offering for the year in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service.
Nolan then blasted Kilar and WB, saying: “Some of the biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars in our industry went to bed last night thinking they were working for the biggest studio, only to wake up to find they were working for the worst. streaming service.” Nolan's 2020 film “Tenet” had a full theatrical release after repeated delays on August 26 this year, but audience reluctance to go to theaters amid millions of people continuing to die from Covid crippled its box office sales.
Regardless of Kilar's point, Nolan was furious and sent his next project, “Oppenheimer”, to Universal. After Kilar was fired, the head of Warner Bros. Discovery David Zaslav and the studio's new production heads, Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, launched a charm offensive to get Nolan back on the team. Unfortunately, last week Nolan announced that he would be shooting his next feature film at Universal. Does this mean the director is done with WB for good?
Will WB ever lure Nolan home?
Nolan swears that's not the case. In a November 2023 interview with Variety, the director stated that his distaste for his former home studio was “water under the bridge” and that he was “completely” open to returning to WB under new management. For now, though, it's sticking with Universal (the project is believed to be an adaptation of Patrick McGoohan's classic sci-fi series “The Prisoner,” which has been in the works for years), and if the recent report is true, it's not hard to see why.
According to industry informant PuckDe, Luca convinced Zaslav to pay Nolan a seven-figure check as a show of good faith. Really? That doesn't sound like De Luca, who has long been known for being one of the most talent-friendly executives in the industry (starting with his stewardship of PT Anderson's career at New Line in the late 1990s); if he wanted to extend his goodwill to Nolan, a seven-figure donation to Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project would have made more sense. Or maybe he could convince Zaslav to release finished releases but shelved for tax deduction reasons like “Batgirl” and “Coyote vs. Acme.”
De Luca and Abdy have managed to strike deals with auteurs such as Anderson and M. Night Shyamalan, but Zaslav's presence at the top still causes concern for many top directors. Some directors feel he can't be trusted, so they're waiting to see how he handles Anderson's latest film, especially after the historic flop of his personally approved “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Zasław is famous for his pettiness and pride. Given Nolan's reportedly warm relationship with Universal boss Donna Langley, the time just didn't seem right for a WB homecoming.
