Christopher Nolan: I feel great about the state of movie business

This was the year of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The film based on the life of Robert Oppenheimer clashed with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and created mayhem at the box office with humongous box office numbers. It not only broke previous records but also set the stage for a super successful year at the cinema, as it managed to get audiences to the theatres.

As the year draws to a close, Christopher Nolan, the director behind the film Oppenheimer,reflected on the effect his film had on cinema lovers. The film beat major Hollywood tent[poles like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and every superhero movie that released in 2023 to maintain a rock-solid stand at the box office.

Speaking about the phenomena that his latest film was, Nolan said, “I’ve just made a three-hour film about Robert Oppenheimer which is R-rated and half in black-and-white – and it made a billion dollars. Of course, I think films are doing great.”

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He added, “The crazy thing is that it’s literally the most successful film I’ve ever made. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and in the United Kingdom it’s my highest-grossing film. So I feel great about the state of the movie business, based on my own experience. But also based on seeing other movies break out, seeing audiences come back. The audience’s desire to be surprised, to see something new, to see something they did not know they wanted, that’s always been the most powerful force in theatrical film. So it was wonderful to see that this year.”

Christopher Nolan experienced Oppenheimer’s power over moviegoers firsthand by sneaking into screenings of the movie on opening weekend.

He said, “Emma [Thomas, Nolan’s producer and wife] and I went into the back of Lincoln Square, which has a giant IMAX screen where you can still play 70mm film. And there were two screens – one five-perf 70mm, one 15-perf – and we went from one to the other. When we walked into the back of the IMAX screen, it was just as the Trinity test was coming to its conclusion. It was absolutely packed; every seat was filled. To be in the back of that theatre in that moment of silence, before the sound washes over the audience… you could hear a pin drop. It was a really remarkable experience. Quite overwhelming, really.”

Oppenheimer is now available to rent or buy on VOD and digital platforms.