Oppenheimer’s Christopher Nolan Would “Love” to Make a Horror Movie

Filmmaker Christopher Nolan has delivered audiences a number of thrilling and tense experiences throughout his career, though he did recently express that he would “love” to make a horror movie. While his films Memento and Insomnia both featured the hunt for a murderer, they weren’t as abjectly unsettling as more straightforward horror movies, and given how subjective the term “horror” can be, he even likened elements of his award-winning biopic Oppenheimer to embracing horror elements. With his films like Inception and Tenet exploring more unconventional interpretations of reality, Nolan’s comments reflect his interest in more abstract storytelling that is more possible in the world of horror than in a typical drama.

“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,” Nolan shared at an event held by London’s British Film Institute, per 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 added, “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 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.”

Looking back at Nolan’s career, a majority of his projects fail to be defined by one genre, whether they be his superhero efforts with his The Dark Knight trilogy, his tale of dueling magicians The Prestige, or his heady sci-fi drama Interstellar. 

Nolan’s remarks about horror might be met with frustration, as a majority of his films over the last two decades have been mind-bending and big-budget affairs, as opposed to the typically more intimate nature of a horror film. With Oppenheimer being a tremendous financial and critical success, it would seem hard to believe he would be tackling a smaller-scale horror movie anytime soon, leaving fans to speculate about what type of genre picture he would deliver.

Stay tuned for updates on Christopher Nolan’s future projects.

Would you like to see Nolan make a horror movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!