Warner Bros. seems to be at its wits’ end. And why wouldn’t it be? Losing perhaps one of its most lucrative and talented filmmakers for a big fish like WB can only end up in flames. Or at least that seems to be the case for the latter. Jumping ship and going onboard with Universal Pictures instead certainly seems to be going well for Christopher Nolan, especially now that he has the upper hand with WB desperate to have him back in the team.
The Studio Wants Its Key Player Back in the Game
After WB’s 2021 film slate catastrophe, Christopher Nolan took his business to Universal Pictures, yet another industry titan that also doubles as a stealthy opponent of the former, and thus came into existence his much-awaited biopic, Oppenheimer. And the rest is history.
Ever since the Cillian Murphy-led film was announced, the entire world has been thrilled, to say the least, counting the days till the project hits the silver screen. At the same time, WB’s Barbie too, is on the horizon, ready to release on the very day as Oppenheimer. Naturally, the same has become a debate for fans everywhere, and while people seem to be equally excited about both ventures (for the most part), it looks like Warner Bros. is breaking a sweat having lost its most successful and valuable player.
“We’re hoping to get Nolan back,” studio execs recently confided in an interview with Variety. “I think there’s a world.”
Both Barbie and Oppenheimer have been propped up on hefty production budgets of $100 million and both films have been crowned as two of the most anticipated summer releases of the year. Nevertheless, WB seems to be worried sick about the Nolan-helmed movie ripping Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling’s Barbie to shreds so maybe they’re trying to get in the award-winning director’s good graces before they have to bear any more possible damage.
Christopher Nolan’s Fallout With Warner Bros.
After maintaining a rather fruitful relationship with WB for nearly two entire decades (that practically makes up almost the entirety of his career), Nolan, 52, parted ways with the Hollywood giant as a result of a major shakeup.
While the English filmmaker had been vocal about his concerns and conflicts with the studio long before the decision was forged, the confirmation of the same was no short of a shock to the film industry’s core, and rightly so. Some of the most entrancing cinematic masterpieces that Nolan has bestowed upon the world have exclusively been WB productions. So it’s safe to say that the end of the Interstellar director’s tenure with the studio marked the end of an era.
Despite the fact that their relationship had started to sour a long time ago, WB’s 2021 hybrid-release model as per which films would release on its streaming service, HBO Max, on the same day they hit theatres, was the cherry on the cake for Nolan.
The award-winning director had even voiced his “disbelief” over the controversial move before the end of 2020. “It’s very, very, very, very messy,” the Tenet director told ET Online, with emphasis on the four verys. And in a much harsher statement to The Hollywood Reporter, he slammed HBO Max as “the worst streaming service.”
But now, when all has been said and done, the billion-dollar company wants Nolan, whose films have grossed $5 billion across the globe, to be on their side. Whether he decides to let bygones be bygones, only time will tell.
Oppenheimer and Barbie are set to premiere on July 21, 2023.
Source: Variety
