Christopher Nolan Talks About How THE DARK KNIGHT Trilogy Is Different From Today's Superhero Movies
Christopher Nolan's Batman films were a big part of the superhero movie renaissance, but Nolan says today's comic book directors don't have as much time as he had when making The Dark Knight trilogy.
While it wasn't that long ago, a lot has changed in the film industry since Christopher Nolan directed The Dark Knight. Since then, Marvel's cinematic universe has taken off, and several superhero movies get released every year.
Nolan recently shared his thoughts on how this environment has changed the filmmaking process for blockbuster movies.
At a BAFTA: A Life In Pictures event where Nolan reflected on several of his films, from the mind-bending classic Memento to this year's war thriller Dunkirk, the director was asked about the Dark Knight Trilogy. He answered by talking about how he didn't have to rush his filmmaking process. Nolan said:
“That’s a privilege and a luxury that filmmakers aren’t afforded anymore. I think it was the last time that anyone was able to say to a studio, ‘I might do another one, but it will be four years.’ There’s too much pressure on release schedules to let people do that now but creatively it’s a huge advantage. We had the privilege and advantage to develop as people and as storytellers and then bring the family back together.”
It's worth noting that Nolan was able to alternate between Batman movies and his own passion projects during the eight years he was in charge of the Batman franchise. In between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Nolan made The Prestige, and in between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, he directed Inception.
Today, with release dates scheduled so far in advance and with so much competition in the superhero genre, filmmakers have extra pressure to finish their films on time. With recent reports about the hectic production of Justice League, it's clear that this makes a director's job pretty difficult.