If ‘Oppenheimer’ Is A Success, Christopher Nolan's Name Alone Can Sell A Movie
From Gaius Bolling
With Oppenheimer, director Christopher Nolan has created a new challenge for himself. The director, who was once an attention-grabbing independent filmmaker before he blended those sensibilities with studio ambitions, is a rare director that has never really had a flop. His name alone generates interest and it puts him in a rare position as a man behind the camera. Not many directors can generate box office dollars based on their name alone but Nolan is in that league and it will be solidified if he can make Oppenheimer truly explode with moviegoers.
Nolan made several short films before his feature film debut with 1998's Following. The independent neo-noir crime thriller was enough to generate some interest but it was his breakthrough with Memento in 2000 that would garner him international recognition. The film earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and its intricate non-linear narrative attracted moviegoers and cinephiles alike. The film grossed an impressive $25 million domestically and $40 million worldwide on a reported $5 million budget and this was done from gradual word of mouth. Early on, Nolan made it clear that he was making films that you HAD to watch.
Following the success of Memento, Nolan officially stepped into the studio system with 2002's Insomnia, released by Warner Bros. This would be the beginning of a long and profitable relationship with the studio and the film is a nice bridge between his indie beginnings and the big studio films he would soon be making. Insomnia is the kind of project you don't see made much anymore. It's an R-rated adult thriller that is boasted by its three Academy Award-winning stars, particularly Al Pacino and Robin Williams. Released during the summer of 2002, Insomia became a decent-sized hit, despite summer blockbuster competition. On a budget of $46 million, the film grossed $113.7 million globally and this only set the stage for his biggest move yet.
Nolan's great commercial run begins with The Dark Knight Trilogy. Taking on Batman Begins in 2005 was a daunting task considering that the brand was tarnished by 1997's Batman & Robin but Nolan's name being attached to the project made it an enticing endeavor for moviegoers. Despite a limited amount of projects to his name, Nolan's work spoke for itself so strongly that he had already built up a level of trust with the audience. He was soon becoming a director where it didn't matter what stars were attached to his projects. We wanted to see what Nolan was bringing to the table.
Beginning with Batman Begins and continuing with The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, the trilogy was a success both critically and financially. Batman Begins put respect back on Batman's name while The Dark Knight set a new blueprint for comic book movies as it stands with many as the best superhero movie of all time. With The Dark Knight Rises, most moviegoers were just happy that the director stuck the landing with what is arguably one of the best trilogies ever made. Across three films, the trilogy grossed over $2.4 million worldwide and it solidified his commercial success as a director. One with integrity that could still be respected by cinephiles but also one that still made projects accessible to casual moviegoers.
Not just satisfied with resting on the success of The Dark Knight Trilogy, Nolan would put out two films during the 2005-2012 period that he was also crafting his Batman story. 2006's The Prestige was a reminder that he didn't always have to go big to make a compelling story and put butts in the seats. It was like proof that the commercial success of 2005's Batman Begins wouldn't change him. Budgeted at just $40 million, The Prestige ultimately grossed $109 million globally, giving Nolan yet another hit.
In 2010 Nolan made another big move with Inception, a science fiction action film that was also smart and innovative. The director managed to make the movie commercially accessible while also challenging the mind. The move proved to be yet another hit for Warner Bros. when the $160 million film grossed over $828 million worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2010. The movie was also a presence at the 83rd Academy Award with 8 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
If you think cerebral sci-fi is a tough sell, you're not wrong. It doesn't always ignite the box office but if it's directed by Nolan, then you have a secret box office weapon. Interstellar may not have been a hit under any other director but the film represents another facet of Nolan that has made him a sure thing at the box office. There is beauty in his filmmaking. He's a supporter of large-format photography and testing the limits of his visuals, many of which he tries to capture practically. He was the first to utilize IMAX cameras with The Dark Knight and it's a technique he has continued to use and master. You're seeing a film on the big screen and he really wants you to feel and experience it. You feel like every penny you spent on a ticket is worth it based on the scope of what you're seeing on screen. You see this even more in Interstellar. The images are poetry in motion and that beauty carried that film to $773.8 million worldwide.
The biggest showcase of Nolan's name being enough to guarantee box office was 2017's Dunkirk. The historical war film has very little dialogue with most of the action being conveyed through cinematography and music. The film also has extensive practical effects, beautifully captured on IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film stock. The movie was released during the heart of the summer and it was honestly his biggest flex as a director at the time. Nolan's name alone turned Dunkirk into a $527 million worldwide hit. Not many directors could've made that movie a must-see but Nolan did. For his efforts, the film also earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination and, surprisingly, gave the filmmaker his first Best Director nomination… something that was long overdue.
The release of Tenet would be a crossroads for Nolan. The film suffered many delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic as movie theaters were shuttered worldwide. Studios were trying to pivot on how to release their films and this began a behind-the-scenes war between Nolan and Warner Bros. The director, who made Tenet to be experienced on the big screen, would not allow his film to be sent to a streaming service. His longstanding relationship with Warner Bros. seemed to guarantee that wouldn't happen but it didn't mean they couldn't do it for their other movies. As movie theaters began to reopen, Warner Bros. decided to employ a day-and-date strategy for their 2021 releases that would see them released simultaneously in theaters and on the HBO Max streaming service. It was a move that upset many filmmakers, including Nolan. It was viewed as a move to boost up subscribers on their streaming service at the expense of the filmmakers that didn't make their movies to be experienced on the small screen for the first time. Between the struggles of getting Tenet to the big screen and the bad taste this move left in his mouth, Nolan ended his partnership with Warner Bros. that span nearly 20 years of box office hits.
Looking purely at the numbers and the circumstances, Nolan even made Tenet perform better than anticipated. The film was released with movie theaters weren't at 100% capacity, which handicapped its box office potential but the film still managed to gross $365 million worldwide. Given its $200 million budget, the movie needed to do more business to be truly successful but Nolan's name propelled it as far as it could despite a global pandemic. Had the film been released to a healthy marketplace, the director would've had another guaranteed hit.
This weekend sees Nolan's biggest box office test. Oppenheimer tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who was pivotal in developing the atomic bomb. Much like Dunkirk, this biographical film is being released in the heart of the summer that is known more for tentpole blockbusters. Nothing about this film screams potential box-office success. The movie runs three hours, is Rated R, and skews towards an older audience, an audience that has been touch and go returning to the movies in this post-pandemic era. Under most directors, a studio would be nervous about its ability to bring in an audience but Universal Pictures clearly has faith in Nolan. After leaving Warner Bros., he brought this project to them and they went all in. If a film needs a secret weapon, Nolan is the perfect one.
What we have seen across Nolan's impressive filmmaking career is that he's a rare breed. If we once had numerous movie stars that could open films on their name alone, Nolan is the director equivalent of that. He's never had an outright flop and his name has so much respect that it generates significant interest. I'd argue that even some of our most acclaimed directors don't even have that. When it comes to movies, in Nolan we trust.
