Acclaimed director Christopher Nolan has not yet announced his next movie, but now he’s begun to discuss what kind of project is interesting to him, even if he may never make it. Nolan said this week at the British Film Institute that he is intrigued by the horror genre and would consider making a movie in that genre if he found the right idea.
“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,” he said, as reported by Variety. “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.”
He went on to say he finds the horror genre to be “very interesting” in terms of cinematography.
“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,” Nolan said.
Nolan is known for big-budget blockbusters like his Batman trilogy, as well as films like Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer most recently. His 2002 film, Insomnia, is a psychological thriller, but Nolan has never made a straight-up horror movie.
Nolan is unlikely to discuss his next project until the awards season ends for Oppenheimer, so fans shouldn’t expect an announcement soon. Oppenheimer is up for 13 Academy Awards, the most of any movie this year, including Best Picture and Best Director. The awards show takes place on Sunday, March 10.
