Christopher Nolan is undoubtedly one of the best directors in Hollywood. Over a career spanning two decades, Nolan and his creative genius has seen him receive five Academy Awards nominations and his films have grossed over $5 billion.
Nolan’s latest flick, Oppenheimer, will open in theaters on Friday and most of us can’t wait to see it. Already, it’s the best-rated film of the director’s career, which is no mean feat given his resume that includes Dunkirk, Memento, and The Dark Knight, among others.
Ahead of the film’s premiere, the auteur did the customary press junket expected during the promotion of blockbusters.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with John Horowitz, the 52-year-old sat down and talked about Oppenheimer, his career, and his process, among other things. Over the years, Nolan has expressed an interest in directing a James Bond film. Naturally, his host had a few questions for him on that front, too.
Horowitz asked Nolan if he feels the time is right to helm a Bond movie.
In response, the Tenet filmmaker said, “The influence of those movies in my filmography is embarrassingly apparent. There is no attempt to shy away from that. I love the films and it would be an amazing privilege to do one.”
Despite his interest in the franchise, he did express some reservations about getting involved in the franchise. He said, “When you take on a character like that you’re working within a particular set of constraints and you have to have the right attitude towards it.”
Nolan said, to helm a film in that universe, the director has to be in the right creative state such that they can maintain a balance between their artistry and the constraints that come with the franchise.
The James Bond franchise is one of the longest-running movie franchises in history and one of cinema’s most iconic films. Because of this, it will demand a lot of responsibility from those involved, including the director. Nolan acknowledged this and he drew attention to his work on the Batman films as evidence that he can handle that challenge.
The Interstellar director went on to say that he would want to be involved in every phase of the film, including the writing and casting. He gave the impression that, without these liberties, he would rather experience the franchise like every other fan.
In his words, “You’d have to be really needed. You’d have to be wanted in terms of bringing the totality of what you bring to a character. Otherwise, I’m very happy to be first in line to see whatever they do.”
By the way, the critics are not the only people who are loving Oppenheimer. Robert Downey Jr., who we all know and love as Iron Man, picked the film as the best of his career. We don’t know about you, but that sure broke our hearts as Marvel fans.
Oppenheimer lights up theaters from this Friday, July 21.
