Christopher Nolan Reveals the Movie He Believes Is Truly Phenomenal

Christopher Nolan’s ascent to becoming a cinematic powerhouse didn’t happen by accident, but even he admits there was a massive turning point in his early career. After shooting his debut feature, Following, with nothing more than a few friends and his own personal wardrobe, he made a jump that still feels like his biggest professional milestone.

He once described the shift from his mother making sandwiches for the cast to managing a $4 million budget and a massive crew for Memento as the most significant leap he has ever taken.

That leap eventually led him to the Batman trilogy, where he successfully salvaged a character that had been nearly ruined by previous, campier adaptations. Films like The Dark Knight didn’t just entertain audiences; they redefined what a superhero movie could be in the 21st century.

His career has since been a string of massive successes, from the mind-bending Inception to his recent Academy Award-winning biopic, Oppenheimer. Nolan has always been vocal about the directors who inspired his own journey, and he went through his favorites with Oppenheimer lead Cillian Murphy.

While many films were mentioned, Nolan highlighted Terrence Malick’s 1998 war epic, The Thin Red Line, as something truly phenomenal. He described the film as being absolutely poetic and noted that it remains a fantastic war movie that looks stunning on the big screen.

One specific element of Malick’s film that stuck with Nolan was the musical score by Hans Zimmer. He pointed out a particular track called “Journey to the Line,” which Zimmer jokingly calls the forbidden cue because it is so powerful that it becomes almost impossible to replace once it’s used as a temp track.

Nolan called the composition a pretty magical piece of film score, and its influence was clearly visible when he later collaborated with Zimmer on his own war drama, Dunkirk. As of early this year, the 55-year-old director is hard at work on his most ambitious project to date.

His next film, The Odyssey, is scheduled for release on July 17 and is being described as a “mythic action epic” shot entirely with brand-new IMAX technology. The $250 million production marks a return to his partnership with Universal Pictures following the massive success of Oppenheimer.

The cast for the upcoming adaptation of Homer’s epic is a true “who’s who” of Hollywood talent. Matt Damon leads the film as Odysseus, and he reportedly underwent an intense physical transformation for the role, including growing a real beard for over a year because Nolan refused to use a fake one.

Joining him is Tom Holland as his son, Telemachus, and Anne Hathaway as his wife, Penelope, alongside Zendaya, who is set to play the goddess Athena. The film was shot across multiple international locations, including Greece, Sicily, and Iceland, to capture the grand scale of the ancient journey without relying on digital effects.

Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Charlize Theron also star in major roles, making this one of the most star-studded ensembles Nolan has ever assembled. With a trailer that debuted during Super Bowl 60 just last month, anticipation for this legendary “foundational” story is reaching a fever pitch.

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