Christopher Nolan on hunt for 'exceptional' script to direct a horror film

Christopher Nolan hit a roadblock in his search for a good script for a horror film should he ever makes one.

The 53-year-old auteur interacted with an audience at the London’s British Film Institute (BFI) on Thursday, where he expressed his desire to dip his toes in the horror genre.

“I’d love to make a horror film,” the Oppenheimer director enthused.

However, Nolan noted, “I think a really good horror film requires a really exceptional idea. And those are few and far between. So I haven’t found a story that lends itself to that.”

He went on to point out the elements that appeal him about the genre, including their instinctual dependence on “very cinematic devices,” prompting “visceral responses to things”.

“But I think it’s a very interesting genre from a cinematic point of view,” the filmmaker shared. “It’s also one of the few genres where the studios make a lot of these films, and they are films that have a lot of bleakness, a lot of abstraction.

“They have a lot of the qualities that Hollywood is generally very resistant to putting in films, but that’s a genre where it’s allowable,” Nolan added.