Current Events > Christopher Nolan most likely will not return to WB for next production

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/want-to-be-a-hollywood-player-covid-and-streaming-have-changed-all-the-rules-11611247554

After spending years as a top Warner Bros. director, Christopher Nolan, who wrote and directed last years Tenet, is unlikely to return to the studio with his next project, in part because he was disappointed with the studios hybrid distribution strategy for 2021, according to people familiar with the matter.

Not sure who would be willing/able to take him other than Disney.
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he's such a fucking baby

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Disney buyin errything

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"oh noooooo my boss would rather release a movie online than hemorrhage money for 2 fucking years so I QUIT"

He'll land on his feet somewhere I'm sure.

Hopefully whichever studio picks him up reigns him in a little

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Some of these directors really need to understand that there is a sizable amount of the population that doesn't care if a movie is "supposed" to be viewed in a theater.

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Really TC, you're not sure who will take on one of the highest grossing directors ever?

Nolan can go anywhere. He has tons of clout in the industry.
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This guy lost some major respect

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Dunkirk was terrible and Tenet wasn't that good. Warner Bros likely doesn't care if he leaves.

This dude has made nothing but garbage since TDK

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I think Disney is the only company that could afford a project with Nolan. Universal is out of the question with their VOD strategy, I don't think Sony could afford it, and Paramount denied Scorsese doubt they'd want Nolan lol
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Maninstagnate posted...

Dunkirk was terrible

Maninstagnate posted...

tenent wasn't that good.

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Tenet did terribly at the box office but I don't think WB wants to part ways with Nolan still even if they lost a shit ton of money.
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Chris Nolan is so far up his own ass, high on his own farts, i'm surprised he hasn't made a 3 hour autobiographical flim written, directed, produced, crewed, and starring himself.

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Maninstagnate posted...

Warner Bros likely doesn't care if he leaves.

They released tenet in theaters to make him happy. That is a pretty dumb take in a topic full of dumb takes

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Some people are acting like Nolan was the only one upset with WB when it's quite a significant amount of people. Other studios didn't seem to have the same issue that they have.

Also I think it's pretty safe to say that WB needs Nolan more than Nolan needs WB. Nolan isn't going to have any issues getting someone else to fund a movie for him. WB needs all the hits they can get and Nolan was generally a pretty safe bet for them.

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One of best directors ever. He will survive. His brother is good too.

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Darmik posted...

Some people are acting like Nolan was the only one upset with WB when it's quite a significant amount of people. Other studios didn't seem to have the same issue that they have.

The others involved have very different reasonings than Nolan though. Also, those that stuck around actually renegotiated and had their requests supposedly granted (Denis Villenueve for example)
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Smashingpmkns posted...

The others involved have very different reasonings than Nolan though. Also, those that stuck around actually renegotiated and had their requests supposedly granted (Denis Villenueve for example)

The sentence you quoted literally says it's about the 2021 HBO Max decision. So I'm sure it would be the same reasoning.

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Darmik posted...

The sentence you quoted literally says it's about the 2021 HBO Max decision. So I'm sure it would be the same reasoning.

Denis Villeneuve's reasoning is different than Nolan's even if they're both in regards to the deal.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

Denis Villeneuve's reasoning is different than Nolan's even if they're both in regards to the deal.

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/dune-denis-villeneuve-blasts-warner-bros-1234851270/

There is absolutely no love for cinema, nor for the audience here. It is all about the survival of a telecom mammoth, one that is currently bearing an astronomical debt of more than $150 billion. Therefore, even though Dune is about cinema and audiences, AT&T is about its own survival on Wall Street. With HBO Maxs launch a failure thus far, AT&T decided to sacrifice Warner Bros. entire 2021 slate in a desperate attempt to grab the audiences attention.

Warner Bros. sudden reversal from being a legacy home for filmmakers to the new era of complete disregard draws a clear line for me. Filmmaking is a collaboration, reliant on the mutual trust of team work and Warner Bros. has declared they are no longer on the same team.

If Nolan wrote this article this board would tear him to shreds.

Pandemic or no AT&T have shown that they're willing to decide on their own to throw movies on HBO Max without consulting with the directors even if they already agreed to a cinematic release. Of course their treatment would impact if future film makers sign with them.

Most of this stuff is happening behind the scenes. too. The damn Director Guild of America got upset with AT&T/WB. People thinking it's about Tenet are missing the forest from the trees.

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There's like 6 more paragraphs in that article. Reports (albeit mostly unconfirmed) have already come out saying that Dune is being shelved until a theater release is possible in order to preserve franchise possibilities. Dude got what he wanted by sticking to his guns and that's respectable. Nolan, not so much.
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Tenet was mediocre as fuck but gotta let the baby have his temper tantrum for....WB agreeing to his demands to release a movie during a pandemic to kill people.

Tenet:

Man: If we dont stop this the whole world will cease to exist!

Nolan channeling his inner goofy to show a womans role is purely about being a mom

Woman: including my son?

CruelBuffalo posted...

Tenet:

Man: If we dont stop this the whole world will cease to exist!

Nolan channeling his inner goofy to show a womans role is purely about being a mom

Woman: including my son?

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Smashingpmkns posted...

There's like 6 more paragraphs in that article. Reports (albeit mostly unconfirmed) have already come out saying that Dune is being shelved until a theater release is possible in order to preserve franchise possibilities. Dude got what he wanted by sticking to his guns and that's respectable. Nolan, not so much.

So not only unconfirmed but still no indication if he's happy enough to stay with the studio for movies after Dune either.

Again the literal Directors Guild were unhappy with WB. They fucked up. The narrative that Nolan is both powerful enough to force WB to release Tenet against their will but then having no sway at all afterwards barely makes sense to begin with.

Tenet was always the canary in the coalmine movie for WB regardless of Nolan because of when it was set to release. I don't even know if there's any actual story anywhere that Nolan was unhappy with how they handled Tenet.

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Darmik posted...

So not only unconfirmed but still no indication if he's happy enough to stay with the studio for movies after Dune either.

Again the literal Directors Guild were unhappy with WB. They fucked up. The narrative that Nolan is both powerful enough to force WB to release Tenet against their will but then having no sway at all afterwards barely makes sense to begin with.

Tenet was always the canary in the coalmine movie for WB regardless of Nolan because of when it was set to release. I don't even know if there's any actual story anywhere that Nolan was unhappy with how they handled Tenet.

Unconfirmed by some of the most respected reporters in the industry lol they can't confirm this shit until it's officially announced, that's how it works. And he's still slated to continue the franchise and possibly run a TV series.

WB offered to delay Tenet indefinitely. Even offered to keep it off of streaming. Nolan forced the release and at that point, yes it was a test run for these studios to see how a major movie will do during a pandemic just like how Universal's Trolls movie was a test run for how a major movie made for theaters would do on stream. The major difference is that Trolls was successful and Universal adapted while also pushing off their bigger major movie productions further out so they could (hopefully) make a theater release when things are calmer. Tenet flopped and now their hand is forced.
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lilORANG posted...

Really TC, you're not sure who will take on one of the highest grossing directors ever?

Nolan can go anywhere. He has tons of clout in the industry.

This, he's got a lot of opportunities else where.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

Unconfirmed by some of the most respected reporters in the industry lol they can't confirm this shit until it's officially announced, that's how it works. And he's still slated to continue the franchise and possibly run a TV series.

WB offered to delay Tenet indefinitely. Even offered to keep it off of streaming. Nolan forced the release and at that point, yes it was a test run for these studios to see how a major movie will do during a pandemic just like how Universal's Trolls movie was a test run for how a major movie made for theaters would do on stream. The major difference is that Trolls was successful and Universal adapted while also pushing off their bigger major movie productions further out so they could (hopefully) make a theater release when things are calmer. Tenet flopped and now their hand is forced.

It's still too early to tell. If they're shelving it because of franchise possibilities and that's the only reason he is getting what he wants that's still going to be very telling for the theatrical focused directors who went with WB in the past.

Their hand was not forced to immediately announce that all announced 2021 movies will be on HBO Max without bothering to work things out with their creative teams. That's all on them. Universal haven't pissed anyone off. Disney haven't pissed anyone off. WB has pissed off several directors, actors and guilds. You can't somehow blame this entirely on Nolan and Tenet. If they handled their 2021 slate differently things Nolan likely wouldn't leave. I also highly doubt Nolan will be the only one who'll go elsewhere for their next movie. WB will need to work hard to regain trust. The perception they're giving is that they will sacrifice their theatrical movies to boost up a failing streaming service.

Wonder Woman 1984 bombed even worse and they're not out there bragging about their streaming numbers so it's not like they've really figured out some amazing business tactic for all of their movies that were designed to be major theatrical releases.

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Tenet was total fucking garbage

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Prestoff posted...

This, he's got a lot of opportunities else where.

Not really. At least not with the budgets he's used to. Artistic freedom is whatever any company would probably give him it (except maybe MGM), but only a handful of companies could afford to make one of his movies. And that's ignoring his anti-streaming stuff.
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Disney is notorious for stripping anything remotely resembling creative freedom. Star Wars sequels are the first time they didn't in decades.

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Smashingpmkns posted...

Not really. At least not with the budgets he's used to. Artistic freedom is whatever any company would probably give him it (except maybe MGM), but only a handful of companies could afford to make one of his movies. And that's ignoring his anti-streaming stuff.

lol Universal spent Nolan budgets on movies like The Mummy. His next movie is likely gonna be years away now and most movie studios these days don't really have a reliable hit. I can see Sony, Universal and Paramount all signing him up. I doubt Tenet would have flopped if there wasn't a pandemic.

Besides he might be willing to go for a lower budget anyway. Not like he hasn't done so in the past.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

Disney is notorious for stripping anything remotely resembling creative freedom. Star Wars sequels are the first time they didn't in decades.

They just acquired Fox and if they were to strike a deal with Nolan it would definitely be under their 20th Century logo. Fact is we don't know how Disney is handling that and it's not something that can be easily assumed just by looking at what they're doing now.
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Yall complaining about Nolan now.... but then turn around and watch his next new movie anyways

up there with people concerned about pollution and the environment yet drives a car every day


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metallica846 posted...

Nolan should do the new Star Wars!

I could see Nolan taking over something. Probably never Star Wars lol Supposedly Nolan has been wanting to make a Bond movie for forever now but I really don't think Nolan and MGM would have a happy Bond relationship at all.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

I could see Nolan taking over something. Probably never Star Wars lol Supposedly Nolan has been wanting to make a Bond movie for forever now but I really don't think Nolan and MGM would have a happy Bond relationship at all.

Why?

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Directors should stop lying about how movies being available on streaming services in addition to theaters is bad for the audience

Bond movies are just as much the directors film as they are the producers. And I don't think either would enjoy that environment nor do I think they would budge.

Iirc MGM is selling though so who knows.
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Smashingpmkns posted...

Bond movies are just as much the directors film as they are the producers. And I don't think either would enjoy that environment nor do I think they would budge.

Yeah maybe. Skyfall really felt like they wanted it to be like a Nolan movie so I don't think they'd step on each others toes too much. I think Nolan would go pretty traditional with it if he got the gig.

The thing with IO Interactive is also pretty interesting. The franchise is in a bit of a crossroads at the moment.

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mcpwnia posted...

he's such a fucking baby

Nah. WB is fucking garbage.

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I've always found Batman Begins to be boring and pretentious. Is this an acceptable opinion now?

Tenet made 150mil over budget despite covid.

It did less than wb wanted even with covid, people have no clue what flop means anymore.

It's also laughable, this situation is no different than when kojima left konami to do his own thing.
DarthAragorn posted...

Directors should stop lying about how movies being available on streaming services in addition to theaters is bad for the audience

That isn't the point remotely. You can stream all of nolan's movies. He doesn't care if people have the choice to wait and steam.

What he does care about is

1.) Insuring people are given the opportunity to see the movie how he intends it on a large screen.

2.) The economics of the industry, both his personal wealth but also all the union workers beneath him. Hollywood can not just make up the money lost by no theaters. And it's not going to be nolan who ends up unemployed when studios look to cut cost to churn out more Netflix garbage tier content that is meant to be consumed and forgotten.

We've already seen a great shrink of mid budget movies as streaming as gained traction. As it's just more economical to make them low budget and put them on streaming for a fixed return than hope it clicks with enough of the audience.

If you want 100 million dollar budget movies to go away, then cheer for at&t.

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SevenTenths posted...

Tenet made 150mil over budget despite covid.

It did less than wb wanted even with covid, people have no clue what flop means anymore.

WB lost money on it. $200 mil budget is only what was disclosed and doesn't cover things like marketing, which the movie had at least 3 different marketing campaigns. It was a commercial flop and it isn't even an argument lol
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FortuneCookie posted...

I've always found Batman Begins to be boring and pretentious. Is this an acceptable opinion now?

this is indeed a hot take. Congratulations

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Smashingpmkns posted...

It was a commercial flop

Only if you're uneducated to the point you don't know what flop means.

Does that describe you?

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SevenTenths posted...

Only if you're uneducated to the point you don't know what flop means.

Does that describe you?

Do you know what Tenet's break even point is? Lol I know movie economics can be a little confusing. Let me know if you need me to break it down for you.
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