confusing movies that only really make sense at the end. The relative inaccessibility of many of his films creates a big risk that they'll flop at the box office, but Nolan's career continues to go from strength to strength.

Inception is easily one of Nolan's most revered projects. Despite its wild dream-based premise that could confuse even the most seasoned moviegoer, it was incredibly profitable and praised by critics. In retrospect, trusting Nolan to guide the Inception cast may seem as though it were an easy decision, but high-concept movies can sometimes be doomed to fail. Thankfully, Inception lived up to its potential, but it has another Nolan project to thank for its chance to succeed.

The Dark Knight’s Success Helped Christopher Nolan Get Inception Made

Inception's high-concept story was deemed worth the risk after Nolan's first Batman sequel thrived

Speaking with BFI, Christopher Nolan discussed how much the box office success of his Batman trilogy helped convince Warner Bros. that Inception would also be a success. Nolan's superhero movies were a big deviation from his usual projects, and while all three films showed the iconic character in a new way, they were all a triumph from a critical and financial perspective. Speaking specifically about 2008's The Dark Knight and its influence on Warner Bros' decision to greenlit Inception, Nolan said his first Batman sequel, "smoothed the way for what otherwise might have been received with some raised eyebrows."

Nolan said his first Batman sequel, "smoothed the way for what otherwise might have been received with some raised eyebrows."

Nolan its in the interview he had been afraid to approach Warner Bros. with an Inception pitch due to how complicated it already was, and would eventually become. With the immense success of The Dark Knight in the face of Nolan's unconventional approach to characters like Batman and the Joker, trusting him with even riskier movies like Inception suddenly became much less of a gamble. In short, if The Dark Knight had flopped in 2008, Inception might never have happened - whether in 2010 or later.

Christopher Nolan Kept Using His Success To Take Bigger Swings

Inception wasn't the end of Nolan's massive movie streak

Nolan is a filmmaker who isn't content with sticking to a formula, and he's always on the hunt for new ways to push his own boundaries as well as those of the movie industry at large. His string of successful movies - the Dark Knight trilogy included - allowed him to keep upping the scale of later efforts. The jump in complexity and overall size of the operation between The Dark Knight and Inception is one of Nolan's most notable transitions, but following Inception with The Dark Knight Rises is another example of this becoming a trend.

Whether Nolan is making a trippy sci-fi movie or a gritty biopic, his penchant for grandiosity is still very present in every project.

Although Nolan has since scattered in more grounded movies, like 2017's Dunkirk and 2023's Oppenheimer, the filmmaker's more recent projects still boast more genre-heavy productions - like 2014's Instellar and 2020's Tenet. Whether Nolan is making a trippy sci-fi movie or a gritty biopic, his penchant for grandiosity is still very present in every project. One success always feeds the next, and Nolan is yet to take a notable backward step in this regard.

There’s No Movie Christopher Nolan Can’t Make Now After 20 Years Of Hits

Nolan has continued his impressive genre-defying career

Nolan has been one of the most consistently successful directors of the past couple of decades, and one of the biggest reasons for this is the fact he just doesn't stop bettering himself as a filmmaker. He's not satisfied with confining himself to a single genre. Even between each installment of the Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan made a concerted effort to step away from the Batman universe and make other, unrelated movies. His commitment to versatility throughout his career and the ensuing success has made him a sought-after Hollywood collaborator.

It's difficult to think of another director with not just Nolan's range, but also the talent to pull off seemingly any idea he turns his mind to. Going straight from Tenet to Oppenheimer is perhaps the biggest example of the writer/director's ability to make very disparate stories still seem as though they're being told by the same person - because, in short, they are. At this point, there's almost no doubt that Christopher Nolan will continue his unpredictable filmography, and his next idea could come from almost anywhere.

Source: BFI