Summary

• Warner Bros. is avoiding past mistakes by securing deals with top actors like Tom Cruise and Timothée Chalamet.
• Christopher Nolan's departure from Warner Bros. led to his most successful movie, but he hasn't ruled out a return to Warner Bros.
• Chalamet and Cruise's deals offer Warner Bros. first pickings for future projects, potentially avoiding further high-profile exits.

Christopher Nolan is one of the most prolific and celebrated directors in 21st-century Hollywood, and the release of Nolan's breakout movie Insomnia in 2002. The director disagreed with Warner Bros.'s newfound strategy of simultaneously releasing projects in theaters and on its streaming service (HBO Max at the time). Consequently, Nolan broke his partnership with the company and signed with Universal Pictures.

Oppenheimer grossed almost $1 billion at the box office (it ultimately earned more than $957 million during its theatrical run), undoubtedly a blow to Warner Bros. and an enormous win for Universal Pictures. However, the company is learning from its past mistakes and locking down a couple of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood.

WB's Tom Cruise & Timothée Chalamet Deals Avoid Its Christopher Nolan Problem

Warner Bros. Struck Deals With Tom Cruise & Timothée Chalamet

Warner Bros. signed massive deals with Tom Cruise and Timothée Chalamet in 2024, coming off their recent successes — Top Gun: Maverick and Dune: Part Two, respectively. Cruise's deal with Warner Bros. entails collaborating on producing original and franchise theatrical films (and starring Cruise, of course). Although the agreement between Cruise and Warner Bros. doesn't mean he won't still be working with other studios to make content, the franchise aspect of the Warner Bros. deal indicates that those movies will bring in more revenue for the studio.

Rumors suggest that [Edge of Tomorrow 2] may be one of Cruise's first projects with Warner Bros. following their agreement.

Meanwhile, Chalamet cemented his A-list status with his deal with Warner Bros. The actor's contract with the production studio includes a multi-year agreement to collaborate on future films (with Chalamet as a star and producer) and a salary increase reportedly in the tens of millions of dollars per movie featuring Chalamet in a leading role. Like Cruise's deal, Chalamet can make films with other studios, but Warner Bros. has first pickings on the actor's prospective projects. Consequently, Warner Bros. is avoiding the mistake it previously made by letting Christopher Nolan walk away from the company.

What Future Movies Are Tom Cruise & Timothée Chalamet Making With WB

Tom Cruise & Timothée Chalamet Already Have History With WB

The deal between Tom Cruise and Warner Bros. reveals that the actor and the company will collaborate on a mixture of original stories and franchise projects. So, while Cruise's biggest franchises (Mission: Impossible and Top Gun) aren't produced by Warner Bros., Cruise and Warner Bros. will likely develop sequels to some of the films they previously worked on together to turn them into franchises. For example, reports surrounding a possible Edge of Tomorrow 2 have been floating around for years, and rumors suggest that the sequel may be one of Cruise's first projects with Warner Bros. following their agreement.

Although Christopher Nolan cut ties with Warner Bros. in 2021, the director has left the door open for a possible collaboration in the future.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. released Dune and Dune: Part Two, both starring Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides. As a result, one of Chalamet's first movies with Warner Bros. after their deal will be Dune 3, which is officially in development following the huge success of Dune: Part Two. A sequel to Wonka (which Chalamet headlined and Warner Bros. developed) may also be in the works with Chalamet returning to reprise his role as the titular character. Given Wonka's critical and commercial achievements following its release in December 2023, a second film is quite plausible.

Will Christopher Nolan Return To Warner Bros?

The Award-Winning Director Has Addressed His "Feud" With WB

Although Christopher Nolan cut ties with Warner Bros. in 2021, the director has left the door open for a possible collaboration in the future. Nolan told Variety that the feud between him and the film production studio is "water under the bridge." When asked if he would be open to returning to Warner Bros., the director said, "Oh yeah, absolutely." So, even though Nolan and Warner Bros. seemingly had a messy public breakup, they could come together again to make great movies again. Their collaborative history runs deep, as most of Nolan's films were developed by Warner Bros.

Only three of Christopher Nolan's feature films have not been distributed by Warner Bros. — Following (1998), Memento (2000), and Oppenheimer (2023).

How Tom Cruise & Timothée Chalamet's WB Deals Can Include Christopher Nolan

Tom Cruise & Timothée Chalamet Could Collaborate With Christopher Nolan In The Future

Perhaps Christopher Nolan's willingness to jump back into business with Warner Bros. in the future means that Tom Cruise and Timothée Chalamet have a shot at working with the accomplished director. For Chalamet, a future collaboration with Nolan would be the second time they have worked on a film together. The actor previously starred as Young Tom Cooper in Nolan's 2014 epic science fiction movie Interstellar. Chalamet's scenes were minimal, but given his rise to fame, Nolan may want to hire Chalamet in a bigger role for a future project (a sequel to Interstellar also isn't out of the question).

Details surrounding Christopher Nolan's next movie after Oppenheimer are unknown, but rumors suggest the director will adapt the 1960s TV series, The Prisoner, into a film. Although these reports haven't been confirmed, the director should consider Tom Cruise or Timothée Chalamet for his project.

On the other hand, Nolan and Cruise have never worked together on a movie. However, with Cruise's massive deal with Warner Bros. and Nolan's history with the production studio, they may find themselves on the same film set one day. Plus, the two seemingly share the same ideals regarding filmmaking. Cruise's agreement includes original projects, so he and Nolan could easily collaborate on a new movie (instead of a franchise film or a sequel) for Warner Bros. that doesn't have to be an action film (but could be given their reputation for practical effects and impressive stunts).

Source: Variety