Christopher Nolan is making a major shift in regards to his previous allegiance to Warner Brothers. Practically all of Nolan’s filmography was distributed and released by Warner Brothers, so the fact that Universal has snatched Nolan’s upcoming film signals that something must have occurred to break Nolan and Warner Brothers' previous bond. Nolan is an Oscar-nominated director for his brilliant film, Dunkirk. Given Nolan’s high status in Hollywood, his decision to decline Warner Brothers and start anew with Universal is anything but random.
Several other film distributors were in the running as well, including Sony, Paramount, and, of course, Warner Brothers. Nolan’s transition to Universal stems from Warner Brothers' hasty decision last year to send all of its 2021 slate straight to HBO Max, day-and-date with theaters. Nolan is naturally a big lover and believer when it comes to the rich culture behind theater itself and the dire need to preserve all that this community has lost as a result of the pandemic. Warner Brothers' choice to send most of its 2021 movies to HBO Max exclusively was motivated by personal gain and fear of tanking at the theaters.
Deadline reports that with Universal nabbing Nolan's next film, the project has been greenlighted to begin production in the first quarter of 2022. The film will be taking historical roots, as its narrative centers around World War II scientist and creator of the atom bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. The outlet reports that Cillian Murphy, who has previously worked with Nolan on projects such as The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception, was in contention for an important role. However, while this is still a possibility, no casting decisions have been made at this time.
Due to Nolan’s respected status, he can pull strings that other directors are not able to, especially during the time of a global pandemic. Nolan spoke out against Warner Brothers in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. After the HBO Max decision, he stated, “Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service.” The last time that Nolan teamed up with Warner Brothers for a theater release was for his most recent movie, Tenet.
In the case of Tenet, Warner Brothers did not release the film on any streaming service at the same time as theaters. Tenet, instead, was released only at movie theaters, but this was also right at the height of coronavirus cases rising and quarantine being initiated. As a result, Tenet only brought in a gross of $58.4 million (domestic), which was a huge decline from the box office earnings Nolan has brought in with his previous works such as The Dark Knight and Dunkirk. To Nolan's point and that of many other members of Hollywood who spoke out against Warner Brothers last year, timing is quite literally everything.
Last year, it would have made much more sense to have implemented HBO Max as a means to accommodate the pandemic. Yet, right now the vaccine is finally available and the theaters need that revenue in order to continue existing and flourish. Nolan’s theater return in the future and his new project with Universal will hopefully hit the top of the box office charts this time around.
Source: Deadline