The narcissism in this man. I’ve been quite fond of Christopher Nolan’s films over these last two decades, but, contrary to what Nolan might believe, he hasn’t saved cinema with “Oppenheimer.”
This morning, a well-established producer sent me a BAFTA-related podcast interview with Nolan, the subject was “He’s so full of himself.” The crux of it has to do with Nolan’s belief, in his own words, that the box-office success of “Oppenheimer” signals a new era of cinema that will be less defined by franchises and stories shaped by IP.
“I think the success of Oppenheimer certainly points to a sort of post franchise, post intellectual property, landscape for movies — it’s kind of encouraging,” Nolan told the podcast, hosted by Alex Zane.
Oppenheimer, Nolan added, reminded “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.”
Sure, Chris. As much as I want to believe him, it’s quite honestly baffling to see Nolan saying this. I salute his optimism about the future of film and frankly, I hope he’s right, but I wouldn’t bet on it. We’re already in the deep end and it’s going to take a miracle for original, non-IP content to make a box-office comeback.
It was just wonderful luck that his film’s success came from it riding the coat tails of ”Barbie” and the whole “Barbenheimer” phenomenon. Thanks to this accidental “Double Feature,” both Nolan and Gerwig’s films managed to make movie history. I can’t see something like that happening on a regular basis.
Other than that, I think Hollywood will continue its obsession of IP. Just look at what Mattel and Nintendo are doing with all of the movies they’ve greenlit the last year. Also, 8/10 of the highest grossers of 2023 were franchise films, the two exceptions were “Oppenheimer” and “Sound of Freedom.”
Nolan is his own kind of franchise. He’s one of the few directors out there who can bring out an audience to theaters based on his name alone. Is there anybody else? Maybe Tarantino, but nowhere near the numbers a new Nolan can bring. Imagine if “Oppenheimer” were the exact same movie, but with any other director it wouldn’t be able to make nearly as much money.