After the success of his mega budget biopic, Oppenheimer, director Christopher Nolan has spoken about his desire to keep working on such large scale projects.
During an interview with Time magazine, the filmmaker said some of his recent favorite films were smaller-scale dramas. Even though he admires such projects, the director feels that it is his “responsibility” to continue making big budget movies with large casts and elaborate sets.
Christopher Nolan on his ‘responsibility’ to make big budget films
Nolan’s recent masterpiece Oppenheimer is leading in the Academy Awards with 13 nominations in several categories. The film has been nominated for Best Picture, Cinematography, Film Editing, Costume Design, Production Design and Makeup And Hairstyling. Cillian Murphy has been nominated as Best Actor In A Leading Role while Christopher Nolan has been nominated as Best Director for the film. Emily Blunt has been nominated as Best Actress In A Supporting Role and Robert Downey Jr for Best Actor In A Supporting Role.
Following the success of the film, Nolan said, “I’m drawn to working at a large scale because I know how fragile the opportunity to marshal those resources is. I know that there are so many filmmakers out there in the world who would give their eye teeth to have the resources I put together, and I feel I have the responsibility to use them in the most productive and interesting way.”
Screengrab from Oppenheimer | Image: Instagram
According to reports, Oppenheimer got a $100 million budget. Even though this is a massive budget, it is still smaller than the budget for his 2020 movie Tenet, which had a budget of over $200 million. The Dark Knight trilogy, on the other hand, had an estimated $250 million budget.
Christopher Nolan on Oppenheimer’s success
Earlier, while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Christopher weighed in on Oppenheimer’s success. He said, “We’ve clearly caught a wave with the film and that’s something we’re very grateful for. We never imagined this level of success. But we did have faith that it was a great story. You know, certainly audiences going to it in the summer, I think it was the strength of the story itself, this great piece of American history that was driving things for us.”