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Christopher Nolan is one of the most famous filmmakers in the world. Following is Nolan’s feature debut, which is a black-and-white crime thriller. He stuck with the thriller genre in other titles, including Memento and Insomnia. However, his Batman trilogy is what he’s primarily known for, particularly The Dark Knight. His World War II action-drama Dunkirk earned three Academy Award wins and five nominations. Nolan has another WWII movie he’s working on, but it may not end up at Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. day-and-date releases

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shook the entertainment industry to its core. Warner Bros. responded by moving their 2021 film slate to be released day-and-date in theaters and on their streaming platform, HBO Max. Some filmmakers were more open about their dissatisfaction with this decision than others.

Patty Jenkin’s Wonder Woman 1984 was the first to hit HBO Max. She has continued to speak on her disappointment with the movie not being released exclusively in theaters. Jenkins called out the major Hollywood studios for not fully committing to supporting the theatrical experience.

Nolan was outspoken with his rejection of this distribution strategy. Tenet is his most recent movie, which was released exclusively in theaters earlier in the pandemic. The movie acted as a test to see if audiences were still willing to go to the theater during the pandemic. The movie still brought in $363 million worldwide against a reported $200 million budget.

Christopher Nolan’s next WWII movie

Deadline reported that Nolan is preparing for his next WWII movie. It currently doesn’t have a title, but this time, he’s tackling another angle of the war. The story follows Robert J. Oppenheimer, also known as the “father of the atomic bomb.” It will focus on his development of the A-bomb during WWII, which put an end to the war with Japan in 1945.

Not many details have been released around the movie quite yet. However, there is talk that Cillian Murphy might be involved in the project. They previously worked together on two of the Batman movies, Inception, and Dunkirk, so this news wouldn’t be a stretch.

Nolan is allegedly shopping the screenplay around at multiple studios. Executives are currently in talks with Nolan and his team.

Christopher Nolan and studio deals

WWII 'Dunkirk' filmmaker Christopher Nolan at the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival
Christopher Nolan | Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
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Numerous big-name filmmakers are signing first-look details with some distributors. For example, Zack Snyder signed a first-look deal with Netflix.

Nolan never officially had a deal with Warner Bros., although he has remained loyal to making his previous movies with them. It’s possible that Warner Bros. is one of the distributors in talks for his next movie, but there’s currently no indication of the studio’s place in all of this.

There’s no official reason announced for why Nolan would shop the movie around to other studios. However, Warner Bros.’ handling of their 2021 release slate could have played a part in him wanting to bring the movie to another distributor.

Nolan has an impressive filmography, so the movie will certainly find a home somewhere. It will be interesting to see which distributor scoops up his next title. Stay tuned for more information on the WWII movie and if Nolan comes forward about his interest in working with another distributor.

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