Not content with dominating the sci-fi space, directorial titan Christopher Nolan (last year’s multi-Oscar nominated Oppenheimer) wants to make a move into the horror genre – and we’ll happily welcome him on board.
Speaking at an event at London’s British Film Institute, the London-born director responded to an audience member who asked if he’d ever make a horror film in the future (quotes via Variety):
“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. But 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.”
As mentioned, Nolan has, of course, worked extensively in the sci-fi genre, with the blockbusters Interstellar, Inception and Tenet to name but a few. He’s also dabbled in the thriller space, with 2000’s Memento being perhaps the closest he’s come to a horror so far, while the World War II-set Dunkirk definitely delivered on real-life terror. He’s also not shy about adding a touch of gore here and there (who could forget Harvey Dent’s gruesome face reveal in The Dark Knight?!) but we’ve yet to see him tackle a true horror in the traditional sense.
At the event, Nolan went on to explain what exactly attracts him to the genre:
“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.”
So what kind of horror could we expect from such a storied filmmaker? Given that Nolan has cited Ridley Scott’s Alien as one of his favorite movies of all time, plus his penchant for twisty-turny metaphysics, a space-set horror would be pretty much perfect. Perhaps he could even carry on the Alien franchise after Fede Álvarez’s upcoming Alien: Romulus? Or maybe we’ll see him team back up with Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy, who is himself keen to get back into the horror space? Could we be seeing Nolan’s debut horror movie on the cover of FANGORIA one day in the future? We sure hope so!
Needless to say, we’ll be following Nolan’s potential horror debut with great interest – and bringing you any updates as they come.
