After earning seven Academy Awards for his latest opus, Oppenheimer, everyone wants to know what Christopher Nolan will be doing next. The short answer, of course, is anything he wants. But, buried within a Variety report about how much the director earned for Oppenheimer is a juicy tidbit teasing he might be directing an adaptation of the classic ’60s series The Prisoner! Widely considered one of the greatest TV shows of all time, it starred Patrick McGoohan (who was also the creative mind behind the show) as an unnamed British spy dumped on an island prison for those who were too valuable to be allowed to roam free. Dubbed “The Village”, the former spies don’t have names, but are rather known by their numbers. He’s known as Number 6, with Number 2 being in charge of the never-seen Number 1. The series plays like a psychedelic, cerebral James Bond movie, meaning it would be ideal material for Nolan to tackle.
Many others have tried to turn The Prisoner into a film. Mel Gibson, who was a huge fan of the show and cast McGoohan as Longshanks in Braveheart, always wanted to do a big-screen version. His Passion of the Christ co-star Jim Caviezel headlined a limited series version for AMC in 2009 that co-starred Ian McKellen as Number 2. Fun tidbit, McGoohan actually reprised his role as Number 6 on an episode of The Simpsons. The premise of The Prisoner was also lifted wholesale for a Van Damme movie called Double Team (best remembered for co-starring Dennis Rodman).
As for Nolan’s Oppenheimer payday, he banked nearly $100 million as the project’s director, writer, and producer. This nice chunk of change represents a combined total from multiple sources, including the filmmaker’s salary, backend compensation, box-office escalators, and a bonus for his twin Academy Awards.
On Sunday night at the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, Oppenheimer took home prizes for the following awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), Best Editing (Jennifer Lame), and Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson). The film’s combined accolades will bump Christopher Nolan up the Hollywood ladder as a filmmaker to chase when his next project comes about. While Nolan was already one of the industry’s most in-demand talents, his multiple Oscar wins boosted his cache even higher, making him a formidable force in filmmaking.
Christopher Nolan and his talented team made Oppenheimer on a production budget of $100 million. The historical drama earned $958 million worldwide, making the film a monumental money-earner and then some. Who wouldn’t want to work with Nolan after a return like that? The total earnings are even more impressive considering the film’s R rating and three-hour runtime. Many people don’t want to sit in a theater that long, but they listen when Nolan recommends that people see his movies in theaters. Oppenheimer also added money to its coffers by pushing movie buffs to own physical film copies. Oppenheimer quickly sold out in the United States, calling for the distributor to press more copies immediately.
What would you like to see Christopher Nolan tackle next? Is $100 million an appropriate payday for the premiere filmmaker? Let us know in the comments section below.