Will Christopher Nolan’s next movie be a remake of ‘The Prisoner’?

Posted On October 11, 2024October 11, 2024

This week, cinephiles and film enthusiasts were thrilled by a major announcement: Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated follow-up to Oppenheimer is set to premiere on July 17th, 2026. Matt Damon is in discussions to star, marking his third collaboration with Nolan following Interstellar and Oppenheimer. Reports also confirmed that Nolan would continue his partnership with Universal Pictures for the upcoming effort rather than return to Warner Brothers, where he had established his career prior to the triumphant release of his atomic bomb biopic.

As for any information regarding the film’s title, genre, or even a hint of its story, Nolan was characteristically mysterious. In fact, the news didn’t give anything away about the film except its release date and Damon’s potential involvement. Therefore, as soon as the news landed, fans and industry insiders began to speculate about what exactly Nolan was cooking up for his adoring audience this time.

One thing that dedicated Nolan-heads have always wanted to see is his version of a horror movie. Indeed, in early 2024, Nolan told an audience at the British Film Institute that he had long pondered adding his two cents to the genre. He said: “I think horror films are very interesting because they depend on cinematic devices. It really is about a visceral response to things, and so, at some point, I’d love to make a horror film. But 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.”

Does this announcement mean Nolan has found that elusive story? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps it’s more likely that he’s finally found a way to make a big-screen adaptation of something he’d previously toyed with in the wake of The Dark Knight way back in 2009. At that time, the scuttlebutt was that Nolan was keen to make The Prisoner his next project, a cult classic British science-fiction series from 1967. Instead, though, he made his long-gestating passion project Inception – and movie trailer editors who liberally used its iconic “BRAAM” noise for the next decade thanked him profusely.

What exactly is The Prisoner, though? Does it sound like a Nolan joint? In short, the answer is “hell yes”. The show, which only ran for one season of 17 episodes, told the story of a spy who tried to quit his high-ranking government job. Annoyingly, he soon found himself gassed and moved to ‘The Village’, a bizarre coastal settlement complete with a perfect recreation of his house. The residents of this shady place were constantly monitored, and if they tried to escape, they were chased down and absorbed by a large white balloon-shaped robot named Rover.

In essence, then, it was a spy story with sci-fi elements. That couldn’t be more Nolan if it tried.

For my money, there is one particularly compelling piece of evidence that Nolan is finally preparing to strand Damon on a weird island with a balloon monster chasing him. His 2009 attempt to kickstart the project was at Universal, and this was when he met studio chief Donna Langley and struck up a lasting friendship with her. While he couldn’t crack the project back then, he did keep in touch with Langley, and it was she who convinced him to bring Oppenheimer to Universal when he fell out with the top brass at Warner. Has Langley finally got her man?

Finally, there is one more possibility – even if it’s far-fetched. In the leadup to the release of Nolan’s head-scratching backwards spy-fi adventure Tenet, many fans speculated that it was actually a secret sequel to Inception. Why not, right? M Night Shyamalan pulled off that very trick with Split, his stealth follow-up to Unbreakable. Obviously, it turned out this was not the case, but what’s to stop Nolan from doing it this time? Maybe his new movie won’t even be a secret sequel at all – maybe it’ll be a genuine Inception 2.

Ah, we can only dream.

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