.jpg)
After much anticipation, Christopher Nolan's first biographical project, Oppenheimer, was released in theatres on 21 July 2023. As expected, the film received excellent reviews, just like most of his previous projects. Known for creating thought-provoking cinematic marvels, Nolan has once again hit the ball out of the park with Oppenheimer. Despite tough competition from Greta Gerwig's fantasy drama Barbie, the movie has exceeded expectations by minting $80.5 million on the opening weekend alone, according to Variety.
Made on a budget of $180 million (Rs 1476+ Crore), Oppenheimer stars a pool of talented actors like Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, and Rami Malek among others. While these stars went all out to promote the biographical drama, Nolan, joined the bandwagon too and answered some intriguing questions which varied from his personal life to the filmmaking process, the source of ideas for his movies to the personalities who influenced his work, and more. Scroll down to learn more about the interesting revelations made by the ace filmmaker in recent interviews.
From working with Cillian Murphy to his thoughts on directing a Star Wars movie, 7 interesting revelations made by Christopher Nolan in recent interviews
.jpg)
Oppenheimer marks Christopher Nolan's sixth collaboration with Irish actor Cillian Murphy. The actor-director duo have teamed up in the past to deliver critically acclaimed films like Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Dunkirk (2017). Calling Murphy an 'old friend', Nolan, revealed some exciting details about the former that'll leave you surprised. Talking about their first meeting, Nolan, in interaction with Wired, said, “Met him first when he screen tested for Batman, and I think we both kind of knew he probably wasn't right for the role (of Batman), but his test was so exciting that the studio was okay for me to cast him as the villain”.
"Cillian is one of the greatest actors of his generation or any other, and we've done six films together. And this is the first time I got to use him as the leading man", he further added.
Many filmmakers rely on CGI to improve war, explosive, and action scenes in their movies. However, Nolan belongs to a distinct category of filmmakers. The maverick filmmaker has refrained from using CGI. After blowing up an entire fortress in Inception and destroying a real Boeing 474 in Tenet, Nolan recreated the bomb sequence in Oppenheimer by combining black powder, propane, aluminum powder, magnesium flares, and gasoline that produced an effect similar to a nuclear bomb blast. Sharing his view on refraining from using CGI in his movies, Nolan said, "However versatile it is, it tends to be a little safe to me. I think if you want something to have a bit of bite, you've got the imagery to a better threat, even if it's a miniature or something very fake, but something real good on camera, I think it gives you a better result."
In a quick rapid-fire segment with HugoDécrypte, Nolan was quizzed if he would helm another superhero movie, to which he responded with a quick no. But when YouTuber Hugo Travers asked the same for a Star Wars movie, Nolan paused briefly before passing the question. Well, the pause has definitely given Star Wars followers hope of Nolan backing a project in the near future. Who knows!
Talking to Wired with Robert Downey Jr., Nolan spoke about the changes that he would've made to the Avengers movie if he had helmed it. "That is the multiverse conundrum. Having worked with you on Oppenheimer, there'd probably be a lot too much Tony Stark. You'd be running away with the movie a little bit," Nolan quipped. Watch the video here:
Inclined towards filmmaking from a very young age, Nolan started making films on his father's Super 8 Camera. In 1998, Nolan made his official directorial debut with Following - a project that he shot in black and white on a 16 mm film. Sharing an interesting anecdote about the project, Nolan said, "We were a group of friends, working full time, and we would shoot one day a week for about a year, and put it together that way."
What's the one common element you'll find in all Nolan movies? The 52-year-old filmmaker loves experimenting with different laws of physics and when quizzed if he was a physicist, Nolan agreed that he has 'done a lot of films that involve looking into ideas of physics' but still calls himself an amateur.
Known for producing complex movies with lasting impact, Nolan revealed that the main sources for his movie ideas are different for every project. Talking about Oppenheimer, Nolan told, "In the case of Oppenheimer, the idea, I mean, I trace it back to like, as a kid in the eighties, when we all thought we were all gonna die in nuclear Armageddon. And then Sting had that song, Russians (from the 1985 album The Dream of the Blue Turtles)."
