For many years, Warner Bros. Pictures and filmmaker Christopher Nolan had a working relationship in which he could basically do what he wanted.
Then came the pandemic, during which Warners took the move to release “Tenet” in cinemas at the height of the infection – becoming a rare film flop for Nolan.
In 2021, Warners tried a new strategy at the behest of its AT&T masters – releasing films both in cinemas and on streaming simultaneously. That reportedly upset Nolan so much he moved shop over to Universal, with their first collaboration being next month’s “Oppenheimer”.
These days Warners is a whole different beast under its new Discovery masters, with the Warner Bros. Pictures division now run by esteemed executives Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, who have a strong track record of working with filmmakers.
Also helping is that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been one of the most vocal supporters of theatrical releases.
In a feature piece with Variety, De Luca says he believes there is a chance the filmmaker could return to the studio: “we’re hoping to get Nolan back. I think there’s a world.”
This is more than just words. According to the report, the studio wrote a no strings attached, seven-figure royalty check to Nolan as a gesture of good faith for his work on “Tenet”. It certainly appears that Warners is willing to do what it can to revive business between the studio and the filmmaker.
Universal will release “Oppenheimer” in cinemas on July 21st, with Warners opening the “Barbie” movie on the same day.
