Christopher Nolan is reflecting on the overwhelming success of his epic biographical film, “Oppenheimer,” and what it means for the future of the movie industry.
The 53-year-old British filmmaker made his thoughts known during an appearance on the “Countdown to the BAFTAS” podcast, as Variety reported. Nolan talked about how the movie’s box office success proves that movie fans are willing to return to theaters in person and that they’re not only looking for superhero and franchise films.
“Everybody has a tendency to talk down the movie business,” he said. “Really for the whole time I think I’ve been working in movies, I felt the sort of cultural establishment always predicting the demise of movie theaters. Now I get asked that question, you know, ‘What do I think about the health of the movie business?’ I don’t really know how to respond. We just released a three-hour, R-rated film about quantum physics and it made a billion dollars. Like what? Obviously our view is that the audience is there and they’re excited to see something new.”
Nolan continued, “The success of ‘Oppenheimer’ certainly points to a sort of post-franchise, post-IP landscape for movies … It’s kind of encouraging. It reminds the studios that there is an appetite for something people haven’t seen before or an approach to things that people haven’t seen before.”
“Something like ‘Oppenheimer’ working gives other filmmakers a point of reference for how something can work in the marketplace that the studio can relate to,” the eight-time Academy Award nominee said during the podcast appearance.
His comments come just after several big-budget franchise productions, including “The Flash,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels,” all had underwhelming results at the box office. Meanwhile, “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” were among the top 10 highest grossing projects of last year.
The outlet noted that Nolan himself has worked on franchise films and said in the past that Hollywood should include a healthy mix of both originals and sequels or remakes.
“There’s always a balance in Hollywood between established titles that can assure a return in audience and give people more of what they want,” the “Batman Begins” director told AP during a 2023 interview.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP
“That’s always been a big part of the economics of Hollywood, and it pays for a lot of other types of films to be made and distributed,” he added. “But there also always has to be respect for the audience’s desire for something new. That’s one of the big thrills of going to the movies is, frankly, seeing a trailer for a movie you’ve never heard of or type of movie you haven’t seen. A healthy ecosystem in Hollywood is about a balance between the two things and always has been.”
