With #AwardsSZN right around the corner, acclaimed director Christopher Nolan is making sure his voice is being heard. He's promoting his World War II epic Dunkirk, which reportedly pulled in $525 million at the box office. In a recent Variety piece, the director gets into everything from peak TV to lowkey walking back his comments about why he isn't rocking with Netflix from the summer.
If you recall, Nolan was adamant that he wasn't a fan of Netflix's model, calling it "pointless."
"I think the investment that Netflix is putting into interesting filmmakers and interesting projects would be more admirable if it weren’t being used as some kind of bizarre leverage against shutting down theaters," he told IndieWire. “It’s so pointless. I don’t really get it.” He admired Amazon's release strategy, which did involve a short theatrical run, which makes sense considering how gung-ho Nolan is about the cinematic experience.
Roughly five months later, Nolan's changed up his tune (slightly) during his interview with Variety, which took place during the Toronto International Film Festival. Nolan said that he hit Netflix COO Ted Saradanos with an apology via email, and cleaned up his language regarding Netflix's strategy.
"I should have been more polite," Nolan admits. "I said what I believe, but I was undiplomatic in the way I expressed it. I wasn’t giving any context to the frankly revolutionary nature of what Netflix has done. It’s extraordinary. They need appropriate respect for that, which I have."
That's some adult shit right there: admitting what you said was harsh while still standing your ground. Commendable, although it's hard to believe that Nolan needed to be given "context" on Netflix's revolutionary ways. There's a reason why so many people are so loyal to the service, and it isn't because of new seasons of Fuller House. And while it may burn the cinephiles who are ride-or-die for the movie theaters, Netflix is changing the game.
