After a public disagreement with Warner Bros., Nolan’s next book about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atomic bomb would be released by Universal Pictures.
After a public fallout over the release strategy with Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan’s next film, about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atomic bomb, will be released by Universal Pictures.
Studio representatives confirmed Tuesday that Universal has not acquired the rights to finance and distribute Nolan’s yet-to-be-titled film. Deadline Hollywood First reported deal.
Nolan also wrote the screenplay for the film about the theoretical physicist. Production is expected to begin early next year.
With only a few exceptions, Warner Bros. had long been Nolan’s home, going all the way back to 2002’s “Insomnia”. With the studio they created “The Dark Knight” trilogy, best-picture nominee “Dunkirk,” 2010’s mind-bender “Inception” and 2020’s time-travel “Tenet.” (Warner Bros. handled international distribution on 2006’s “The Prestige” and 2014’s “Interstellar.”)
Last year, Warner Bros. launched “Tenet” in theaters in September, at a time when the film industry was scared to release big-budget movies. The sci-fi thriller eventually grossed $363.7 million, making it easily the biggest Hollywood pandemic release of the year.
But when Warner Bros. announced plans to release all of its 2021 films simultaneously on HBO Max in December, Nolan — a fervent advocate for the theatrical experience — was one of the studio’s harshest critics. In a statement, he said, “Some of the biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars in our industry slept the night before thinking they were working for the biggest movie studios and woke up to find that They’re working for the worst streaming service ever.”
“Warner Brothers had an incredible machine for showing a filmmaker’s work everywhere, both in theaters and at home, and they’re finishing it,” Nolan wrote. “They don’t even understand what they are missing out on. Their decision makes no economic sense, and even the most casual Wall Street investor can see the difference between disruption and procrastination.”
Soon after, he called the studio’s plans “a mess” in an interview with the Associated Press.
“It’s a one-sided decision that the studio took. They didn’t even tell the people involved,” Nolan said. “You have these great filmmakers who have worked with vigor and diligence for years on projects that aimed at There are feature films with illustrious movie stars, and all of them are now told they are running at a loss for a new streaming service.
Executives at Warner Bros. have said that the studio will return to releasing movies exclusively in theaters next year.
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