I've been following 'Empire City BO' for awhile now, and he definitely works in the industry - most likely on the exhibition side. He does not post scoops or post engagement bait. He's a booster for theatrical exhibition. Here is his post:
"Nothing certain yet, but watch for an announcement in the next 2-4 weeks for Christopher Nolan's next film releasing on July 17th, 2026. It's likely down to
@UniversalPics and @wbpictures with Universal having the edge.
@ParamountPics could be a dark horse as a pure guess."
I'd lean more on the educated guess side. Idk why Nolan would return to WBD just given their overall state-of-play under Zaz. Comcast/Universal is a healthy company who did right by Syncopy start-to-finish with Oppenheimer.
Most likely just standard business practice. Nolan fielding out his offers and seeing who is gonna give him the best overall deal. If you were in his position, having just won all the Oscars and giving out a highly profitable film, don't you think all the studios would be vying to up the salary and per first dollar percentages so they can get his next film?
I believe he'll likely stick with Universal thanks to his relationship with Donna Langley, but I'm sure all parties understand you can't just go with the first deal you get by default.
Most likely just standard business practice. Nolan fielding out his offers and seeing who is gonna give him the best overall deal. If you were in his position, having just won all the Oscars and giving out a highly profitable film, don't you think all the studios would be vying to up the salary and per first dollar percentages so they can get his next film?
I believe he'll likely stick with Universal thanks to his relationship with Donna Langley, but I'm sure all parties understand you can't just go with the first deal you get by default.
this is by far the most nuanced logical take, i bet even Donna understands that this a move from Syncopy to get the most out of the deal, "this is just how the game is played" and they all know it.
We got the Oppenheimer announcement news on September 14, 2021
Ah yeah you are absolutely right. I don't recall exactly when we got initially the news for Tenet and Dunkirk. If I remember correctly Tenet was announced in early January 2019 where it was listed as an event film.
I recently checked Jonathan Nolan's imdb page and saw nothing listed for him, so I'm wondering whether they've been cooking something together. It will be their return working together since Interstellar!
If it's in the next weeks I think he will stay with Universal.
Warner is currently preparing their presentations and movies for a big event and at least from what I know about it already Nolan isn't mentioned. I feel if they got him back the would announce it.
I know the biggest business decisions aren't made on personal feelings, but after whatever Nolan has said about Warner - and I believe they were his genuine emotions - I would be really surprised if he went back. Especially after winning all the awards with Oppenheimer - proving that Universal had the resources and the boldness to allow Nolan to do whatever he wants, however he wants.
Universal sounds realistic but I wonder when. Universal actually reserves some spaces for movies that are planned but where the title has not yet been released.
The question is, would they already plan ahead for it or not? Given how it collided with Barbie last year I don't really know.
But when do we expect it? It's either been July or November for his past movies, which gives us 07/25, 10-11/25, 07/26 or 10-11/26. For 2025 most titles are already named, 07/25 would collide with the next Jurrasic World, which is likely IMAX again, 11/25 with Wicked, although Wicked is rather at the end of the month, so we could see some late 10/25 release.
And for 2026 the titles are mostly unknown. Is is nothing planned for 07 yet, although 05/26 has some Steven Spielberg movie and I really wonder what it is and then there is one unnamed Event Film in 11/26.
On the other hand, I don't know when they add this information, maybe it's only added after it is announced.
