The Worst Breakup Of 2021: Christopher Nolan And Warner Bros. Are Reportedly Done Working Together

(The Playlist) According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Christopher Nolan is “unlikely” to work with Warner Bros. in the future based in part on the decision by WarnerMedia to release films directly in theaters and HBO Max on the same day. It’s unclear how that might affect projects he currently has in development, but if true, it’s a massive blow to WB, who banks on Nolan films for their box office appeal.

It can’t be understated how deep the relationship between Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan has been over the past two decades. The last film that the director released without Warner Bros. helping was 2001’s “Memento.” Yes, it’s been 20 years that Nolan and WB have been in partnership with films, and over that time, they’ve released massive films like the ‘Dark Knight’ Trilogy, “Interstellar,” “Dunkirk,” and “Inception.” The 2020 film, “Tenet,” was released last year during the pandemic because WB believed so much in Nolan being able to bring audiences to theaters.

I touched on this before, but the decision by Warner Bros to dump their movies on streaming the same day as theatrical release was always going to have backlash among their stable of creators. The #1 guy in that stable was the one and only Christopher Nolan. Like the article mentions, this partnership goes across 2 decades and nearly $5 billion in revenue. Whatever you may think of the quality of his movies, I honestly don't know if there is a working director that is a greater asset to a studio, and I'll show you why:

There aren't many recent movies out there that get critical/award show love as well as performing exceptionally in the box office. Out of those movies that do, almost all of them were made by Christopher Nolan. He is a master entertainer that appeals across the divide of critics and audiences which is an insane advantage to have over other directors. 

The big wigs at Warner decided that losing him is not as important to them as gaining market share in the streaming world. Whether this move will even accomplish that goal still remains to be seen. For Nolan, he is going to have to find someone willing to finance his next $150 million mind-bending project. 

I'm just sad that these two broke up, but at least they had a great run.