The biggest risk is playing it safe: Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan said filmmakers must embrace creative risks because audiences seek originality rather than safe mainstream films. Reflecting on Memento, he credited innovation for its success as he prepares for the release of his upcoming epic, The Odyssey

Los Angeles: Filmmaker Christopher Nolan says playing it safe with mainstream films won’t work as the audience is “looking for something new”.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker is all set for the release of his next directorial, “The Odyssey”. In an interview with The New York Times, the filmmaker, known for films such as “Inception “, “Dunkirk” and “Oppenheimer”, said it is necessary to take “risks to succeed” when it is about films. “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,” he said.

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“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 added.

Nolan recalled making his breakout film, “Memento”, which released in 2000 and said his wife and producer Emma Thomas was ok with the script, but “it felt like it was taking a lot of risk” to structure the film.

Featuring Guy Pearce, the film revolved around Leonard Shelby, a man with anterograde amnesia, who relies on a complex system of polaroid photos, handwritten notes, and tattoos to investigate the rape and murder of his wife, and to track down her killer.

The film inspired the 2008 Hindi hit “Ghajini” with Aamir Khan and the 2005 Tamil original with Suriya. It was also the first project which landed a nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category for the filmmaker. “I was able to say to her (Thomas): ‘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,” Nolan 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,” he said.

“The Odyssey” is set to release on July 17, and features Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway and Charlize Theron. It follows the Greek King Odysseus (Damon) on a perilous 10-year journey home after the Trojan War. Beset by vengeful gods, sea monsters, and enchantresses, he fights to reunite with his wife, Penelope (Hathaway), and son, Telemachus (Holland).

It is produced under Syncopy Inc and distributed by Universal Pictures.