The Big Picture
Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer has redefined blockbuster success, earning $650 million globally and proving that non-franchise films can generate significant profits. Nolan’s unique contract ensured he received a percentage of the film’s box office gross, leading to a higher break-even point than usual for a film of this size. Oppenheimer has surpassed Nolan’s previous films and is on track to become his biggest non-Batman movie, with strong performances in international territories such as the U.K., Germany, and France.
Almost single-handedly redefining what sort of films can become blockbusters these days, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has provided much-needed hope for an industry that had been relying for far too long on franchise fare. Now in its fourth week of release, the three-hour biographic thriller has generated more money than a handful of movies this year that were designed to score big numbers but didn’t.
Oppenheimer has grossed $266 million domestically, and another $383 million from just under 80 international territories, for a running global haul of exactly $650 million. Produced on a reported budget of $100 million, Oppenheimer has been massively profitable for Universal, considering that it broke even when it passed the $400 million mark worldwide — itself an unusually high benchmark, considering its budget. But Variety reported that because of Nolan’s unique contract, which guaranteed him a percentage of the film’s box office gross regardless of how well it would’ve done, the film’s break-even point was slightly higher than the norm for something this size.
Nolan remains one of the few filmmakers who still have the ability to draw audiences to theaters regardless of what they’re offering. Quentin Tarantino is certainly an attraction, but his films appear to have an upper limit of around $400 million worldwide, which is what Django Unchained did. But even some of Nolan’s non-franchise fare, such as Inception and Interstellar, has been able to generate global grosses in the $800 million range. On the other hand, his two Batman movies — The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises — were both able to pass the $1 billion mark worldwide.
Will Nolan Stay with Universal, or Will He Return to Warner Brothers?
Oppenheimer has already overtaken Nolan’s two most recent features — the war film Dunkirk and the science-fiction thriller Tenet — and will now set its sights on finishing as his biggest non-Batman movie. It’s a total that’s well within range, considering how stupendously the film has been performing, despite having been released alongside fellow behemoth Barbie.
Billed as the “Barbenheimer” event, the simultaneous release of these two very different films rejuvenated the box office like little else has in recent times. Combined, both movies have generated nearly $2 billion globally. Oppenheimer, based on the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, is Nolan’s first film with Universal, after he severed ties with longtime creative partners Warner Bros., in protest of the studio’s much-maligned decision to release every film on its 2021 slate on the Max streaming service. Even though Tenet was given an exclusive theater-only release at the peak of the pandemic, Nolan is a famous proponent of the big screen experience, and he decided to shop around for a new home for Oppenheimer instead of remaining with a corporation he didn’t see eye-to-eye with. It was recently reported, however, that W.B. is hoping to extend an olive branch and have him return to the fold.
Oppenheimer’s biggest international territories are the U.K. ($58 million), Germany ($35 million), France ($28 million), Australia ($20 million) and India ($17 million). The film stars Cillian Murphy in the lead role, alongside a sprawling supporting cast that also includes Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and others. You can watch our interview with Nolan here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Meta Data: {“keywords”:”Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer, blockbuster success”}
Source link