Christopher Nolan. Unknown date.
 
Christopher Nolan on Wikipedia
Christopher Nolan on the Internet Movie Database
 
 
 
 
 
 
Christopher Nolan
Forecourt Ceremony held on Saturday, July 7, 2012
 
Born: July 30, 1970, in London, England
Age at the time of the ceremony: 41
 
Who knows where Christopher Nolan comes from. A director with a big imagination calling for big budgets, his films get big results: several of his films have become blockbusters. Working frequently with his brother Jonathan, there seems to be no limit to what this guy might do.

Nolan was born in Westminster and was brought up in Highgate with his older brother Matthew and his younger brother Jonathan. With an English advertising executive father and an American flight attendant mother, Christopher has always held dual citizenship.

At the age of seven, Christopher borrowed his father's super 8 camera, and began making short films starring his collection of action figures. Heavily impacted by 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars, Nolan made a stop-motion tribute he called Space Wars. Having an uncle who worked at NASA helped: he gave the young lad footage from NASA missions, which the boy cut into his films. By age 11, he knew what he wanted to do in life: make movies.

The Nolan family moved to Chicago during Christopher's teen years, but for college, he selected University College London (UCL) for its filmmaking courses and equipment. He ran a screening series, using the resulting money to make his own films. Here also he met Emma Thomas who would become his wife in 1997.

In 1989 (age 19), Nolan wrote and directed (with Roko Belic) the four minute long short Tarantella about a man chasing an unseen insect in his small apartment. After graduating with a degree in English liturature in 1993, Nolan worked the usual bottom-end film jobs while borrowing equipment from UCL, and did his next short on his own, writing and directing Larceny (released in 1996), with Mark Deighton. While he was at it, he remade Tarantella, writing and directing Doodlebug (released in 1997) with Jeremy Theobald.

Using his own money, Nolan made the low-budget garage movie, writing and directing Following (released in November 1999) with Jeremy Theobald; the film got good notices on the festival circuit, and has been released on DVD in December 2012.

Girding for battle, Christopher adapted a story his brother Jonathan wrote and turned it into Memento (released in May 2001) with Guy Pearce as an amnesiac looking for his wife's killer. The film got rave reviews and did big business. Nolan was on his way.

Director Steven Soderbergh guided Nolan to Warner Bros., where he directed the mystery thriller Insomnia (released in May 2002) with Al Pacino. The film hit big with critics and audiences alike.

It was Nolan's idea to retell the Batman origin story, with his wife Emma as one of the producers. Working with his brother Jonathan, he co-wrote and directed Batman Begins (which played the Chinese in June 2005) with Christian Bale; the film revolutionized the way comic-book movies were done from that moment on. It launched a whole new era of filmmaking.

Before returning to a Batman sequel, Nolan co-produced, co-wrote and directed The Prestige (released in October 2006) with Hugh Jackman, then found paydirt by co-producing, co-writing and directing The Dark Knight (released in July 2008) with Christain Bale, which made over $1 billion worldwide.

Nolan's script for Memento was re-worked to become the Indian drama Ghajini (released in December 2008) with Aamir Khan. Meanwhile, Nolan co-produced, wrote and directed Inception (released in July 2010) with Leonardo DiCaprio. The brain-twisting picture became a large hit.

Although the Chinese would not play the thrid installment of Nolan's Batman trilogy, just before the final episode opened, Nolan was invited to come to the Chinese and make his mark. Loving the theatre as he does, he glady accepted. The last chapter of the trilogy had Nolan co-producing, co-writing and directing The Dark Knight Rises (released in July 2012). A smash hit.

Nolan co-produced and co-wrote the story for Man of Steel (released in June 2013) with Henry Cavill as Superman, getting director Zack Snyder to direct. The film devided audiences, but squeaked by at the box-office. Nolan did not look back.

Instead, Nolan became co-executive producer for Transcendence (which played the Chinese in April 2014), with Johnny Depp. In a masterstroke, he co-produced, wrote (with brother Jonathan) and directed Interstellar (which played the Chinese in November 2014), with Matthew McConaughey. The picture is big and impactful, and weird. It made a ton.

Nolan directed and wrote the music for the short documentary about The Brothers Quay (released in August 2015), and was co-executive producer for Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (which played the Chinese in March 2016), with Ben Affleck as Batman.

Stretching himself almost to the breaking point, Nolan told the story of one of Britain's narrowest escapes during World War II by co-producing, writing and directing Dunkirk (which played the Chinese in July 2017), with Tom Hardy. The film is a withering experience. Later, Nolan became executive producer on Justice League (which played the Chinese in November 2017), with Gal Gabot as Wonder Woman.

Nolan directed another mind-bending thriller Tenet, starring John David Washington. While released in some areas in theatres, it is being viewed over the streaming services for the most part. In order to give fans a treat, Tenet played the Chinese for two days when the theatre was allowed to re-open in March 2021. In order to give fans an even bigger bang for their buck, Nolan's biopic of Oppenheimer (which played the Chinese in July 2023), brought back the 70mm projectors, grossed over $2 Million there, bagged a lot of Oscar nominations, and won a good number of them, including a Best Director Oscar for Nolan as well as Best Picture.
 
 
Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Christopher Nolan Forecourt block. Executed by unknown, Saturday July 7, 2012. 36 x 24 inches.
Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, California. Christopher Nolan Forecourt ceremony, Saturday, July 7, 2012. Nolan gives the cameras a grin while placing his hands in the wet cement.
 
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