Christopher Nolan is one of the most highly-regarded and prolific filmmakers working today. Though the majority of his movies lean towards the action/sci-fi genres, the director has now revealed that he would "love" to tackle a full-on horror project at some point.
During a conversation with the British Film Institute (via THR), Nolan expressed his admiration for horror and explained what appealed to him about the genre.
“I think horror films are very interesting because they depend on very cinematic devices,” he said. “It’s really about [provoking] a visceral response to things. 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 the story that lends itself to that. 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’re films that have a lot of bleakness, a lot of abstraction. They have a lot qualities that Hollywood is generally very resistant to putting into films, but that’s a genre where it’s allowable.”
Nolan's films do tend to be quite dark, and he has incorporated horror elements in a few of his previous movies, including Batman Begins, The Prestige, and even his recent Academy Award-nominated biographical drama, Oppenheimer.
“Certainly Oppenheimer has elements of horror — which I definitely think is appropriate for the subject matter,” he added. "The middle of the film is very heavily based on the heist genre, and the third act of the film is the courtroom drama. And the reason I settled on those two genres for those sections is they are mainstream genres in which dialogue and people talking is inherently tense and interesting to an audience. That’s the fun thing with genre — you get to play with a lot of different areas whereas in different type of film you really wouldn’t be allowed to.”
Nolan has yet to officially announce his next project, but has said that he would prefer to delve into "less bleak" territory after Oppenheimer, and hopes to return to "blockbuster" filmmaking. It may also be worth noting that a return to Warner Bros. may be on the cards after the recent news that Tenet will be getting a theatrical re-release.
Whether Nolan will helm a horror film at some point remains to be seen, but at this stage of his career he can pretty much do whatever he wants, so we wouldn't rule it out.
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