LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: The British-born director Christopher Nolan, who was recently in London for the UK premiere of his latest offering ‘Oppenheimer’ said to the BBC that he is not planning to write any new movie until the writers and actor’ strikes are over. While the WGA was already striking for the last two and a half months, the SAG-AFTRA has also joined where they demand better pay and better working conditions.
While Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ will not be affected by the strike as the film is ready and waiting for its worldwide release on July 21, the ‘Interstellar’ director has admitted that he would not be making another film until the strikes are resolved, saying, "No, absolutely. It's very important that everybody understands it is a very key moment in the relationship between working people and Hollywood.” He reasoned, "This is not about me, this is not about the stars of my film,” before elaborating, "This is about jobbing actors, this is about staff writers on television programs trying to raise a family, trying to keep food on the table."
The 52-year-old director and producer also opened up about the actors’ demand for getting profit share from the streaming platforms. Earlier the actors use to make a good amount of money when any show was re-run on television. But with the advent of the streaming giants, the pay structure has not yet been fixed. The ‘Dunkirk’ director said, the responsible organizations have not yet "accommodated how they're going to in this new world of streaming, and a world where they're not licensing their products out to other broadcasters - they're keeping them for themselves.” adding, "They have not yet offered to pay appropriately to the unions' working members, and it's very important that they do so.”
Nolan remarked further, "I think you'd never want a strike, you never want industrial action,” contending, "But there are times where it's necessary. This is one of those times."
Christopher Nolan's Net Worth
As per Celebrity Net Worth, Christopher Nolan is estimated to be worth $250 million. He is named the 12th richest director of 2023. This is not surprising given most of his films are blockbusters earling hundreds of millions. He made his first feature film ‘Following’ in the year 1998 which was completely self-funded. Later in 2000, he made the first film that gave him critical acclaim was ‘Memento’. In 2002, he went on to direct Al Pacino-starrer ‘Insomnia’ which went on to earn $113 million at the box office at a budget of only $46 million.
Nolan then conceptualized the ‘Batman’ trilogy which skyrocketed his success. In 2005 came ‘The Batman Begins’ starring Christian Bale in the titular role. It was followed by ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008) and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012). In 2006, he directed ‘The Prestige’ starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale which made a box-office collection of $109 million.
In 2010, he directed Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy in ‘Inception’ which made a whopping $820 million at the box office. Next, he went on to make ‘Interstellar’ in 2014 which earned $677. He then made ‘Dunkirk’ (2017) and ‘Tenet’ (2020) which on to earn $527 million and $365 million respectively. ‘Tenet’ was released during the Corona Pandemic.
The box-office prediction of ‘Oppenheimer’
Universal confirmed the budget of ‘Oppenheimer’ to be $100 million which makes it quite similar to Nolan’s war film ‘Dunkirk’ which was also made at a budget of $100 million. The film is three hours long and has gotten an R-rated certificate - both of which are deterrents for making a movie a box-office success. However, Nolan adorning the director’s chair in itself has the ability to pull a majority of the audience into the theater. In order to reach break-even, thus, ‘Oppenheimer’ needs to make at least $200 million.
As per Box Office Pro, the long-range prediction is that ‘Oppenheimer’ will open with a $40-$55 million range with the domestic total range estimated to be between $137-$187 million. However, the international market also needs to be considered given the stellar star cast of the movie, which includes the likes of Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo, Cylian Murphy, and Emily Blunt and has a massive fan base worldwide. Thus, even though the Cylian Murphy-starrer film is looking forward to clashing with another big summer release, ‘Barbie’, it can be said, ‘Oppenheimer’ will be able to get the audience’s attention nonetheless.
