All posts tagged: Nolan

Disney Almost Made The Odyssey Into A Film Years Before Christopher Nolan

Disney Almost Made The Odyssey Into A Film Years Before Christopher Nolan

Published by Sam Flores

For millions of viewers, Christopher Nolan’s movie will have been their first introduction to the epic Ancient Greek story about Odysseus’ heroic journey home to his beloved wife Penelope at the end of the Trojan war. And while The Odyssey has been adapted for the screen on numerous occasions in the past, what you might realise is that, at one point, Disney looked poised to have a go at it. The story goes that, at the cusp of Disney’s so-called “Renaissance” towards the end of the 20th century – which saw the studio achieving renewed success thanks to films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King – execs gathered the creative team for a series of so-called “Gong Show” pitch meetings. In these quick fire meetings, writers and animators had a short amount of time to pitch their ideas for stories, many of which would then be greenlit. One of these meetings saw a Disney-fied version of The Odyssey being put forward as an idea, with the company going …

David Nolan Gallery Moves from Upper East Side to Tribeca

David Nolan Gallery Moves from Upper East Side to Tribeca

Published by Jenni Sidey

Striking a defiant tone at a time when the future of the gallery ecosystem remains unknown, David Nolan announced a move for his namesake gallery from New York’s Upper East Side to a bigger space in Tribeca. “At a time when the art world is contracting, in my usual subversive fashion, I wanted to place a bet on the industry and show my confidence in my artists and long-time collectors, along with expanding our collaborations with other galleries outside the U.S.,” Nolan said in a press release announcing the move to a new 6,000-square-foot space in a 1920s-era building on Leonard Street. Related Articles “There is rarely a perfect time to expand or open a new gallery, and taking risks is part of what running a gallery entails,” Nolan continued. “After almost 40 years in the business, my gallery has watched change come many times over. I passionately believe in art and in the artists I exhibit, and in the loyal collectors and curators I have worked with—many of them for 20 to 30 years. …

‘Spider-Man’ triumphs box office for fourth weekend while ‘Odyssey’ breaks record for Nolan

‘Spider-Man’ triumphs box office for fourth weekend while ‘Odyssey’ breaks record for Nolan

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” held onto the top spot at the box office during its fourth weekend in cinemas, fending off competition from a fresh wave of releases that included an action feature starring Jason Statham, a comedy, a family film, and a horror sequel. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan achieved a new personal record as “The Odyssey” became his highest-grossing title to date across both domestic and global markets. On the annual chart, “The Odyssey” sits just behind “Spider-Man,” which brought in another $39 million across 4,006 screens in the U.S. and Canada, based on studio figures released Sunday. Having accumulated more than $854.9 million in North America, “Spider-Man” is poised to leapfrog “Avengers: Endgame” to secure second place among the all-time highest-earning domestic releases, behind only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($936.7 million). Christopher Nolan with his ‘Odyssey’ star Matt Damon …

Christopher Nolan Wouldn't Take No For An Answer When This A-Lister Turned Down A Role

Christopher Nolan Wouldn't Take No For An Answer When This A-Lister Turned Down A Role

Published by Sam Flores

Christopher Nolan at the New York premiere of The Odyssey last month Between Oppenheimer and The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s big-screen epics have become synonymous with their sprawling, A-list casts. In his latest offering alone, Matt Damon takes the lead alongside a supporting cast that includes fellow Oscar winners Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron and Lupita Nyong’o, Nolan-verse regulars Robert Pattinson and Elliot Page and exciting names like Tom Holland, Zendaya and Samantha Morton. The British director’s luck with casting Hollywood stars recently prompted talk show host Jimmy Fallon to question if the filmmaker has “ever gotten a no” – to which he admitted that he had to graft hard to win over a certain icon. Nolan claimed: “The only no I would cop to is David Bowie for The Prestige. He was my great idol and everything, and I thought he’d be perfect to play Nikola Tesla. We sent him the script and everything, and he said no.” The Prestige was one of Nolan’s earlier films, released in 2006 off the back of Batman Begins. It …

How Christopher Nolan Helped Create a Beloved Sub-,000 Watch

How Christopher Nolan Helped Create a Beloved Sub-$1,000 Watch

Published by Jenni Sidey

Early in Christopher Nolan’s 2014 film Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey’s Coop soothes his inquisitive daughter Murphy when she asks about the meaning of her name: “Murphy’s law doesn’t mean that something bad will happen. It means that whatever can happen, will happen.” And boy, does stuff ever happen from there on out. In the film, grown-up Murph goes on to become—spoiler alert!—the savior of the human race. And meanwhile, in the real world, the Hamilton watch that bears her name has become an unexpected stalwart in the world of entry-level watches. The Hamilton Khaki Field Murph—which was originally designed for the film, before eventually getting a public release after years of fan demand in 2019—is a vintage-inspired spin on the watchmaker’s iconic Khaki Field model. In the six years since it became widely available, it’s become a staple of Hamilton’s catalog—and an unlikely patron saint of Reddit watch forums. “New people coming into the hobby, if they’re in that budget range, the Murph is one of the first things out of my mouth to recommend,” says …

Chris Nolan Is Wearing His Rare ‘Batman’ Reverso Again

Chris Nolan Is Wearing His Rare ‘Batman’ Reverso Again

Published by Jenni Sidey

Cool as Hamilton’s new Homeric-themed bronze field watch may be, Christopher Nolan has broken out a different piece from his cinematic universe during recent interviews for The Odyssey press tour: his Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. And while it may look like a run-of-the-mill Tribute to 1931—the stripped-back, classic-looking reference made to honor the very first Reverso model—it actually holds a special secret. Flip the watch’s famously reversible caseback over, and you’re greeted with a pixelated image of the Bat symbol in black enamel. Why? The ref. 277.8.62 was made in a 10-piece limited run back in 2012 for the debut of The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Peek within its reversible frame, and you’ll notice the inside case is inscribed “2012 Warner Bros. Ent. Inc. TM & © DC Comics (s12),” indicating it was made especially for Warner Bros. executives and Nolan himself. When one came up for auction at Antiquorum back in 2013, it sold for $16,250. No doubt that 13 years later, with the explosion in popularity of both the …

Joyce Carol Oates Defends Nolan After Odyssey Translator's 'Crude' Review

Joyce Carol Oates Defends Nolan After Odyssey Translator's 'Crude' Review

Published by Sam Flores

!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement(‘iframe’);t.display=’none’,t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement(‘script’);c.src=”//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js”,c.setAttribute(‘async’,’1′),c.setAttribute(‘type’,’text/javascript’),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src=”https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”;cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({“playerId”:”8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”,”mediaId”:”150e8cef-1a09-40bd-a8f5-f53040cbd428″}).render(“6a6b0318e4b098352c30c5ed”);}); Christopher Nolan’sThe Odyssey was partly inspired by translator and classical studies professor Emily Wilson’s version of the millennia-old poem.  But writing in the London Review of Books, Wilson, while flattered, didn’t seem as keen on his interpretation.  She said that while she was “humbled” the director had cited her version of the first line of the poem, “Tell me about a complicated man,” she added she’d “be ashamed to have written any part of this script”. According to Wilson, the film had “nothing convincing to say about time, memory, history, war, or about the relationship between one warrior’s glorious return and the lives of his family, adversaries, comrades, friends and neighbours”. So, despite calling the blockbuster an “event to celebrate” and lauding its director for “doing his best to get the general public reading again”, it’s safe to say most people have read Wilson’s review as pretty scathing. Author Joyce Carol Oates seems to have been one of them – but she had harsh words for the translator herself on X.  The writer, known for her sometimes-controversial social media …

Greece's Prime Minister Called Christopher Nolan To Thank Him For The Odyssey

Greece's Prime Minister Called Christopher Nolan To Thank Him For The Odyssey

Published by Sam Flores

!function(n){if(!window.cnx){window.cnx={},window.cnx.cmd=[];var t=n.createElement(‘iframe’);t.display=’none’,t.onload=function(){var n=t.contentWindow.document,c=n.createElement(‘script’);c.src=”//cd.connatix.com/connatix.player.js”,c.setAttribute(‘async’,’1′),c.setAttribute(‘type’,’text/javascript’),n.body.appendChild(c)},n.head.appendChild(t)}}(document);(new Image()).src=”https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”;cnx.cmd.push(function(){cnx({“playerId”:”8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb”,”mediaId”:”c41e05a6-7ba0-42f1-8023-0f5ff30eab87″}).render(“6a69cd7ee4b098352c300ce6”);}); Some have criticised Christopher Nolan’s new film, The Odyssey, for not having any Greek actors in it. Nonetheless, Greece’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, seems pretty happy with the film. In a recent video call held with the British director, Mitsotakis praised the record-breaking blockbuster, per Euronews. According to a press statement from the PM’s office, he thanked Nolan for “boosting global interest in ancient Greek civilisation”, adding, “such productions bridge Greece’s rich cultural heritage with contemporary creativity.”  Sales of The Odyssey’s text have skyrocketed since the release of the movie. Mitsotakis also commended the Tenet director’s use of Greek locations. Parts of the movie were shot in the Peloponnese region of Greece, including Voidokilia Beach, the 13th-century Methoni Castle, the monolithic Acrocorinth overlooking the city of Corinth, Almyrolaka Beach, and Nestor’s Cave. And the Prime Minister reportedly mentioned the movie’s “great box office success”, too. The Odyssey is already the second-highest-grossing R-rated movie Universal has made since Nolan’s other huge hit, Oppenheimer. It‘s made $639.6 million (£480.5 million) since its release on 17 July globally. This comes after classical studies professor Emily Wilson, whose …

Christopher Nolan isn’t into Uggs. But you should be

Christopher Nolan isn’t into Uggs. But you should be

Published by Jenni Sidey

At the risk of sounding obvious: Making The Odyssey was no walk in the park. In the film, Odysseus and his army go on a wild bender across Ithaca, Troy, and the rest of it by foot and Viking longship. For the cast, that meant schlepping across six countries—Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland and the US—to embrace what director Christopher Nolan called the “physicality of the real world.” We would probably call it a recipe for plantar fasciitis. “Running through Troy, you know, it’s all stone. You’re in these sandals, and they’re very real,” Matt Damon told SiriusXM recently. It makes sense, then, that, in-between takes, you would really want to kick back in a trailer and wear a big, fluffy pair of boots. Perhaps even a nice pair of Uggs. After all that acting, you’ve really earned that shearling-lining. Absolutely not, says Nolan. Speaking to CBS last week, the director revealed he had a “No Uggs On Set” policy. Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt had, apparently, wanted to turn up in something comfy. But …