Is it too early to ask what’s next for Christopher Nolan? After the success of “Oppenheimer” and “The Odyssey,” he can probably (once again) make any film he wants. A total blank check seems inevitable.
How about a horror film? Back in 2024, Nolan admitted he was intrigued by the idea of making a “really exceptional” horror film. “The Odyssey” certainly features a few scenes that tease what such a film from Nolan might look like.
In a post-release interview with THR celebrating the opening weekend of “The Odyssey,” Nolan circled back to his previous comments and elaborated further. It seems “The Odyssey” scratched a horror itch that he’d like to explore in a full-length feature:
[The Odyssey] very much whet my appetite for more. But I’ve always believed that horror as a genre has to be approached very carefully from a conceptual point of view. In other words, you have to have an amazing idea. When you go see a film like “Obsession,” that’s an amazing idea. That movie works like a motherfucker. It’s not about the technical side. It’s not about what technical itches I would have to scratch. It’s about story. So I’m always looking.
A year ago, Nolan also spoke about horror at BFI. He described the genre as “visceral,” with “a lot of bleakness, a lot of abstraction,” adding that it allows filmmakers to do things onscreen that Hollywood is typically “resistant to.” However, in what has become a familiar refrain, Nolan reiterated that it would take a “great idea” for him to fully commit to making a horror film.
Throughout his career, Nolan has dabbled in sci-fi, fantasy, noir, period biopics, comic book movies, and war films. Horror would certainly be an interesting addition to his filmography.
It’s not too surprising that Nolan wants to tackle horror. The genre has become one of the most profitable at the box office, while filmmakers continue to push narrative boundaries and take creative risks in ways that major studio filmmaking often doesn’t.
Regardless, we shouldn’t expect a new film from Nolan until 2030. While promoting “The Odyssey,” he revealed that the demanding production pushed him to his creative limits and that he plans to take “at least three years” away from directing before starting another feature. Given the time required to write, prep, shoot, and complete post-production on one of his large-scale films, that effectively rules out a release before 2030.
So now we have Hanks, Dafoe, Dinklage, Bailey, Streep, Domingo, Hader and Waits. Most of these are voice castings, and so far the only live action role seems to be Hanks.