Warner Bros. Wants Nolan Back So Bad, They Gave Him 7-Figure Check Apparently
Not a bad bonus for his work on a box office failure.
After working with Warner Bros. for the best part of two decades and directing films such as The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception and Dunkirk, London-born filmmaker Christopher Nolan walked away from the network during the pandemic.
It was an unprecedented time, thrust upon the world with little real notice, and Warner Bros.' reaction to the lockdown and shifting consumer habits was ill-judged at best.
Back in 2020, WB announced plans to release 2021 movies in cinemas and on HBO Max on the same day. Many of the creators behind the films were unhappy with this plan as a concept – and even more annoyed that the decision was taken without any consultation with them.
Christopher Nolan had already voiced his fears about how the pandemic might affect movie theatres and had written to Congress to ask for support. And he was forthright in making his views on WBs decision known.
He described HBO Max as 'the worst streaming service' and turned his back on the collaboration with WB saying, 'Warner Bros.. had an incredible machine for getting a filmmaker's work out everywhere, both in theatres and in the home, and they are dismantling it as we speak'.
The director teamed up with Universal Pictures for his next movie, Oppenheimer, which is due in cinemas on 21 July.
Prior to this decision, Nolan had directed Tenet – a big-budget movie that received mixed reviews and failed to make the big bucks its budget demanded. Despite this, at some point in the last 8 months, Warner Bros. sent Nolan a 7-figure paycheck as a bonus for the work he carried out on Tenet.
And this is not the first sign that things are looking a little rosier in the garden when it comes to the relationship between Nolan and WB. Despite crossing the Tiber to work with Universal Pictures on Oppenheimer (a biographical thriller starring Cillian Murphy), Nolan was allowed to do some post-production work on the Warners lot.
Following the success of the collaboration between Warner Bros. and Nolan it's no surprise they're prepared to pay a substantial amount of money to get him back. Widely considered one of the best filmmakers of the 21st century, it seems a good investment that could be repaid with just a single box office hit.
So, don't be surprised if the partnership gets up and running again and we hear that Nolan's next movie is going to be a big-budget affair.
Source: Hollywood Reporter.