Christopher Nolan slams Hollywood studios ahead of 'The Odyssey' release: 'I can do this'

Christopher Nolan recently criticized Hollywood for deliberately avoiding risks in their hit movies.

The 55-year-old British-American filmmaker recently gave an interview to The New York Times, where he slammed Hollywood studios for not throwing caution to the wind in blockbuster movies despite knowing the fact that people are now “looking for something new.”

Voicing his opinion, Nolan said, “If you’re really interested in movies and the history of movies, the one thing you see absolutely is that you have to take risks to succeed.”

“The biggest risk of all is to play it safe. That’s what, consistently in mainstream movies, doesn’t work. The audience is looking for something new,” he stated.

Nolan went on to share a story about his 2000 breakout movie Memento, which he first pitched to his wife Emma Thomas, a British film producer, and she liked the script, but she thought it was “taking a lot of risk” to structure the film backwards.

“I was able to say to her: ‘No, I can do this.’ There are a lot of filmmakers who can do it in a more straightforward way. Actually, having something new to bring to the table mitigates the risk, it gives you a way to distinguish yourself,” the Oppenheimer director remarked.

Notably, he faced challenges while selling Memento to distributors, and after his unwavering determination, the audience responded well to the movie. After more than two decades, Nolan is experiencing the same situation with his forthcoming film, The Odyssey, as he made it by immersing himself in risks.

He said, “Then we tried to sell it to people who didn’t get it, so she was completely right. But eventually it got to an audience and the audience appreciated that.”

“The risk is the intermediaries — the financiers, the studio. If you can get to the audience — I mean, I’m not making any predictions for [’The Odyssey’], but in the past we’ve been well rewarded for having faith in the audience,” Christopher Nolan noted.

It is pertinent to mention that The Odyssey is set to open in theatres and IMAX on July 17, 2026.