Exclusive: Christopher Nolan Setting Up New Movie With Ray Fisher In Talks For Role
We've exclusively learned that Christopher Nolan is working on his next project, and he's talking to Ray Fisher about it.
Update July 21, 2023: While it remains to be seen if Christopher Nolan and Ray Fisher work together, Nolan’s first movie following this talk was Oppenheimer. Fisher did not appear in this film.
When Warner Bros made the controversial decision to release Christopher Nolan’s film, Tenet, under a hybrid release model, that seemed to be the end of the filmmaker’s relationship with the studio. Fortunately for Nolan, he’s a big enough name that he can find others to work with. Similarly, actor Ray Fisher cut ties with the studio after controversial experiences on the set of Justice League. Now, thanks to information from one of our trusted and proven sources, we have learned that Nolan is working on a new movie and bringing in Fisher for talks for a role.
Christopher Nolan and Ray Fisher had a meeting on Zoom in March 2021. This meeting was to talk about a possible role in Nolan’s next film. Right now, the filmmaker doesn’t have a studio set up for his next project, but our source shared that he is looking and that he’s already planning for what that project will be, including this talk with Fisher. As for the story itself, the filmmaker is working on a project with a female lead this time around, something new for Nolan.
Our source hears that the project will be a noir mystery, though said that they haven’t confirmed Christopher Nolan is done with the script. Without a finalized script or a studio at this point, he can change the story as much as he wants, and with Nolan that happens a lot. He’s known for big twists and storylines that surprise, so anything and everything is still on the table as far as this filmmaker is concerned. One of those possibilities is a role for Ray Fisher, though our source didn’t share what that role may be. Getting his face out there on a new project, especially a new Nolan project, would be a big win for the actor, who is unlikely to ever play Cyborg for DC again.
Often, when filmmakers or actors part ways with a studio, it can be a big roadblock for their careers. James Gunn was a major exception when Marvel cut ties with him, he moved to DC, and then came back to Marvel. His story is a rare exception. While Christopher Nolan wasn’t fired and is instead unhappy with Warner Bros policies for streaming/hybrid releases during 2021, the public controversy doesn’t make finding a new home easy, even for a name as big as Nolan’s. For Ray Fisher, many may have been doubtful that he’d find a next project at all. While he played Cyborg in the DC Extended Universe, which is a very high-profile gig, there has been no guarantee he’ll land somewhere.
For Christopher Nolan, working on the script, talking to actors, and trying to find a new studio for his next project all at the same time is a lot for him to be doing all at once. He has previously discussed the privilege of being able to have four years between releases for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises. He is a filmmaker who enjoys taking his time to get it how he wants it. That he is moving forward on so many fronts at once says a lot. Perhaps with COVID delays, and Tenet being released during the pandemic in ways he didn’t want and to a much smaller audience, he is fired up and wanting to get his next project out there as soon as possible, likely to as wide of an audience as possible.
According to our source, Paramount has passed on working with Christopher Nolan due to some of his demands. This makes sense. Over the years, the filmmaker has come to a point where he develops big-budget movies. He’s come a long way from a $9 million budget on Momento to a $165 million budget on Interstellar. Christopher Nolan is now a director who can make what he wants with large budgets, timelines of his own design, and a desire to have some say in how his movies are distributed, so it makes sense that he’s likely got a long list of particulars. Other outlets have speculated that perhaps Christopher Nolan may land at a studio that doesn’t have many of its movies releasing on streaming to avoid release conflicts in the future. That rules out a studio like Disney but may mean Universal or Sony. While we can only guess at where he’ll land, it does seem safe to bet that we’ll be finding out soon as Nolan is moving forward at a steady clip to get his next work out there.
