Christopher Nolan filmography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Christopher Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature directorial debut was the neo-noir crime thriller Following (1998) which was made on a budget of $6,000.[1][note 1] Two years later, he directed the psychological thriller Memento (2000) which starred Guy Pearce as a man suffering from anterograde amnesia (short-term memory loss) searching for his wife's killer.[3] Similar to his debut feature it had a non-linear narrative structure, and was his breakthrough film.[4] It was acclaimed by critics and was a surprise commercial success.[5] For the film Nolan received his first nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film, and for writing its screenplay he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.[6][7] He next directed the mystery thriller remake Insomnia (2002) which starred Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank.[8] It was his first film for Warner Bros., and was a critical and commercial success.[9][10]

Nolan at the 2013 premiere of Man of Steel

In 2005, Nolan directed Warner Bros' superhero film Batman Begins which starred Christian Bale and told an origin story of the title character.[11] The following year, he directed psychological thriller The Prestige (2006) in which Bale and Hugh Jackman played rival 19th-century stage magicians.[12] His next film was the sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, in which Bale reprised his role as Batman opposite Heath Ledger as the Joker. The film grossed a worldwide total of over $1 billion, and was the highest grossing of 2008.[13] It received eight nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, and Nolan received his second nomination at the Directors Guild of America Awards.[14][15] In 2010, he directed the action film Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a thief who leads a team who steal information by entering a person's subconscious.[16] It was nominated for Best Film at the Academy Awards, British Academy Film Awards, and Golden Globe Awards, and Nolan received his third nomination at the Directors Guild of America Awards.[17]

Two years later, he directed The Dark Knight Rises (2012), which grossed a worldwide total at the box office of over $1 billion.[18] He followed this by producing Zack Snyder's superhero film Man of Steel (2013) and directing the science fiction film Interstellar (2014), which starred Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain. It won the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film.[19] In 2017, Nolan directed the war film Dunkirk, for which he received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.[20] Three years later he directed the science fiction film Tenet (2020).[21] His next feature was Oppenheimer (2023), a biopic centered on J. Robert Oppenheimer, with Cillian Murphy starring as the titular character; the film won the Academy Award for Best Picture and he won Best Director.[22] His follow-up film, The Odyssey (2026), is an adaptation of Homer's epic poem starring Matt Damon as Odysseus.[23]

Feature film

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Director Writer Producer Ref(s)
1998 Following[a] Yes Yes Yes [24][25]
2000 Memento Yes Yes No
2002 Insomnia Yes Uncredited[b] No
2005 Batman Begins Yes Yes No
2006 The Prestige Yes Yes Yes
2008 The Dark Knight Yes Yes Yes
2010 Inception Yes Yes Yes
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Yes Yes Yes
2013 Man of Steel No Story Yes
2014 Interstellar Yes Yes Yes
2017 Dunkirk Yes Yes Yes
2020 Tenet Yes Yes Yes [9][27]
2023 Oppenheimer Yes Yes Yes [28]
2026 The Odyssey Yes Yes Yes [23]
Close
  1. Also cinematographer and editor
  2. Rewrites[26]

Executive producer

More information Year, Title ...
Close

Short films

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Director Producer Writer Cinematographer Editor Notes Ref(s)
1989 Tarantella Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No official release
Co-directed with Roko Belic
[24][31][25]
1996 Larceny Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No official release
1997 Doodlebug Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
2015 Quay Yes Yes No Yes Yes Also composer
Documentary short
[32][33]
2019 The Doll's Breath No Executive No No No [34][35][36]
Close

Documentary appearances

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Ref(s)
2011 These Amazing Shadows [24][25]
2012 Side by Side
2016 Cinema Futures [37]
2018 James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction [38]
2019 Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound [39]
2025 Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert [40]
Close

Notes

  1. Nolan directed a feature, Larry Mahoney, in the mid-1990s, but it was scrapped and never released.[2]

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI