Christopher Nolan has dabbled in many different genres, and during a recent Q&A, the writer-director revealed that he’d like to try horror – on one condition.
Christopher Nolankicked off his career via a trio of thrillers with ever-increasing budgets, debuting with Following, following that with the mind-bending Momento, then remaking Insomnia with stars Al Pacino and Robin Williams.
The Dark Knighttrilogy followed, enabling him to scratch a superhero itch, before Nolan focused on sci-fi through big-budget blockbusters Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet.
His most recent effort –Oppenheimer– is a combination of biopic and account of the atomic bomb’s creation, while the film also features moments of genuinehorror. And turns out, that’s a genre the writer-director would like to explore.
Christopher Nolan will make a horror movie on one condition
During a Q&A at the BFI last night –as reported by Variety– Nolan said: “Oppenheimer has elements of horror in it definitely, as I think is appropriate to the subject matter. I think horror films are very interesting because they depend on very cinematic devices, it really is about a visceral response to things and so, at some point, I’d love to make a horror film.”
That said, Nolan isn’t ready for a scary movie just yet, as he explained: “I think a really good horror film requires a really exceptional idea. And those are few and far between. So I haven’t found a story that lends itself to that.
“But I think it’s a very interesting genre from a cinematic point of view. It’s also one of the few genres where the studios make a lot of these films, and they are films that have a lot of bleakness, a lot of abstraction. They have a lot of the qualities that Hollywood is generally very resistant to putting in films, but that’s a genre where it’s allowable.”
Chris Tilly is the TV & Movies Editor at Dexerto. He has a BA in English Literature, an MA in Newspaper Journalism, and over the last 20 years, he’s worked for the likes of Time Out, IGN, and Fandom. Chris loves Star Wars, Marvel, DC, sci-fi, and especially horror, while he knows maybe too much about Alan Partridge. You can email him here: chris.tilly@dexerto.com.
