As Christopher Nolan prepares to drop Oppenheimer with Universal Pictures, the filmmaker’s old studio is looking for him return for another outing.
Variety recently profiled the co-CEOs and co-chairpeople of the Warner Bros. Film Group, including Michael De Luca, and that’s when the bombshell dropped that the studio wants Nolan to return for another movie after his upcoming release.
“We’re hoping to get Nolan back,” De Luca says. “I think there’s a world.” Alongside Pam Abdy, the two executives reportedly “remain hopeful.”
After splitting from the studio in 2021, Nolan eventually landed at Universal Pictures for the release of his new period piece epic, Oppenheimer. This move marked one of Nolan’s first films outside of Warner Bros. in decades.
De Luca and Abdy admit that Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley acquiring Nolan’s Oppenheimer was quite the power move.
Speaking of power moves, the same Variety story notes Nolan received a “seven-figure royalty check from Warner Bros.” within the last year, which was payment tied to his 2020 film Tenet. Given the rocky relationship that pandemic-era film release caused, the money is reportedly considered “a bonus in good faith.”
In an interesting turn of events, the report claims, “Nolan has done post-production work on Oppenheimer on the Warners lot.” The film is set for release in just over a month from now; there’s no word if Nolan will return to Universal for his following picture or inch his way closer to a Warner Bros. Discovery reunion.
“The IMAX-shot epic thriller thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.”
Featuring alongside Cillian Murphy in the cast of Oppenheimer are Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Casey Affleck, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Dylan Arnold, David Krumholtz, Alden Ehrenreich, David Dastmalchian, Olli Haaskivi, Jason Clarke, James D’Arcy, Michael Angarano, Guy Burnet, Danny Deferrari, Matthias Schweighöfer, Gary Oldman, Harrison Gilbertson, Emma Dumont, Devon Bostick, Trond Fausa, Christopher Denham and Josh Zuckerman.
Oppenheimer is set for release on July 21st, 2023.
