The Christopher Nolan-Warner Brothers Breakup Is Complete As He Picks Universal For His Next Movie

Universal Pictures has landed the right to finance and distribute the next film that Christopher Nolan will direct, based on his script about J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atom bomb.

Sources said that the film is now greenlighted to begin production in the first quarter of 2022. When Deadline broke the story a few days ago about this film being shopped, I’d heard Nolan’s longtime collaborator Cillian Murphy was in the mix for a key role. That still might happen, but I’m persuaded there are no definitive casting attachments at this point.

Like I mentioned in my last blog on this script, I'm still not entierly convinced that this subject matter is what wins the breakup for Nolan. You can read more on that below:

More importantly, I think we should all watch and admire the streak that Nolan and WB went on. Together, they made 10 movies and and grossed over $5 billion dollars while also being insanely critically successful. Do you know how rare that is? It is basically impossible to be that consistant. Here are the numbers 

I use this graphic all the time when blogging Nolan, because it only gets more absurd every time I read it. Beyond historic! 

Anyway, ICYMI, the reason for this breakup is WarnerMedia and their same-day release strategy that has lasted through the pandemic and will go through the end of this year. This has upset plenty of directors and lots of actors, with David Chase recently airing his grievances about them applying it to 'Many Saint's of Newark'. 

“I don’t think, frankly that I would’ve taken the job if I knew it was going to be a day-and-date release. I think it’s awful.”

There is no bigger casualty for WB than Nolan, though. Like I said, he is a unicorn in the world of cinema and there isn't a single director working right now that can fill those shoes. It's been noted how this breakup might not be permanent. In fact, I think this is more like a girl breaking up with a shithead bf and going out with a new guy once to make the bf jealous. That is to say that I think Nolan does this small biopic with Universal then maybe heads back home for his next blockbuster.