Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder were two of the biggest director names at Warner Bros. for over a decade, and their careers intertwined for a bit as Nolan produced Snyder’s “Man of Steel” and executive produced “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League.” During an appearance this week on the “Straight Up” podcast, Snyder spoke about how he and Nolan often screen each other’s films ahead of release. Does Nolan provide some notes to Snyder post-screening and vice versa? Absolutely not.
“Chris Nolan and I went down to Universal City Walk and I projected the IMAX version of ‘Justice League’ for him to watch there. We don’t share notes,” Snyder said. “When I show him the movie, I’m like, ‘Okay, the movie’s done, so just enjoy it.’ He always says it to me, too, like when I saw ‘Tenet.’ The last thing I want to do with Chris, and Chris is a genius, of course, is have my two cents, so it actually is really liberating to be able to just go like, ‘Okay just show me your movie because I want to get my mind blown.’”
While Snyder does not get any notes from Nolan, he does pay attention to the critics even if he would prefer to resist. The director said, “I read a lot of the good [reviews]. I try not to read as many reviews. I didn’t read that many on ‘Justice League.’ I’ve finally got to the point where I don’t take it personally. But it’s hard. You pour so much of yourself into it it’s hard to not take it personally.”
Both Snyder and Nolan found themselves in a contentious spot with Warner Bros. over the last year. Snyder had his “Justice League” debacle with the studio, and has now jumped ship to Netflix where he released the zombie epic “Army of the Dead” in May. Snyder’s relationship at Netflix will continue as a producer on “Army of the Dead” prequel projects and the director of the just-announced “Rebel Moon,” a franchise starter inspired by Akira Kurosawa and “Star Wars.”
Nolan, meanwhile, has not announced what his follow-up project to “Tenet” will be. The director was an outspoken critic of Warner Bros. decision to send its entire 2021 film slate to theaters and streamer HBO Max, which has led many in the industry to wonder if he will remain at the studio for his next movie.
