A hype dominated the cinema last year like no other: the simultaneous release of the pink doll film “Barbie” and the dark atomic bomb drama “Oppenheimer” triggered a false competition between the two films and led to the birth of “Barbenheimer”. It was really worth it for the two studios behind the global successes: “Barbie” became the most successful film of last year and “Oppenheimer” became the third most successful film. But it wasn't just the Hollywood studios that benefited from the box office hits. Cult director Christopher Nolan also cashed in handsomely through his involvement in “Oppenheimer.”
That's how much Nolan earned from “Oppenheimer.”
In a few days, the time-honored Academy Awards, better known in our part of the world as the Oscars, will be presented again in Los Angeles. In addition to great films like “Past Lives” or “Poor Things”, the eyes during the awards ceremony are probably primarily focused on a global success: “Oppenheimer” by Christopher Nolan.
The drama about the inventor of the atomic bomb is the big favorite in the race for the coveted golden boys with a total of 13 nominations. And in addition to its success with critics, “Oppenheimer” was also well received by audiences. This was particularly noticeable in the phenomenal box office takings of $953 million, which catapulted the film into the third most successful film of last year.
While the film studio Universal is certainly happy about the sales, director Nolan isn't going home empty-handed either. As one of the few filmmakers in Hollywood, he has made such an established name for himself that he receives a share of the box office profits of his films.
And that more than pays off for the cult director behind films like “Interstellar”, “Inception” and “The Dark Knight”: According to Forbes, he was able to negotiate a share of 15% of the box office for “Oppenheimer”. Deducting around 50% of the revenue that goes to cinemas, Nolan earned around $72 million from his latest film.
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What's behind the “first dollar gross”
Typically, directors and actors in Hollywood are paid upfront and do not receive additional income from the success of a film. In certain cases, filmmakers were able to negotiate special deals with studios that gave them a share of a film's box office.
These deals are, so to speak, the “gold standard” in Hollywood. Only the greatest actors and most successful directors have a chance of such a participation. In addition to Christopher Nolan, one of the lucky few is also “Mission: Impossible” star Tom Cruise, who was subsequently paid over 100 for the billion-dollar success “Top Gun: Maverick” in addition to his normal salary of around 12 million US dollars Millions of US dollars contributed to the success of the film.
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In addition to the great financial success of “Oppenheimer,” the biopic about the inventor of the atomic bomb also has a chance of winning numerous golden boys at the 96th Academy Awards this weekend. And there are already rumors surrounding Christopher Nolan's next film, as you can read here.