On NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Christopher Nolan didn’t hedge when Fallon asked about genres he hasn’t tackled. The filmmaker said the idea of jumping into a romantic comedy flat-out intimidates him, because the bar for making people laugh is brutally high and the misses are obvious.
“I think people who direct comedy, people who do comedy, I think that’s one of the hardest things in the world to make people laugh that way,” he said.
Nolan added that he enjoys watching a good rom-com, but as a director he sees little room to hide if a gag whiffs or the chemistry doesn’t click in the moment-to-moment.
“There’s no hiding behind that when you do comedy. So, I would be terrified of doing anything like that,” he said.
Eyes on horror
While he’s unlikely to pivot to meet-cutes, Nolan has been open about his interest in horror—with a caveat. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he’d only wade in with a killer premise, not just stylistic scares.
“I’ve always believed that horror as a genre has to be approached very carefully from a conceptual point of view. In other words, you have to have an amazing idea.”
There’s no horror film officially on his slate, but his comments make clear the door is open if the right concept lands.