Christopher Nolan thought ‘Inception’ was going to be a horror movie

The director of ‘Interstellar’, ‘Tenet’ and the ‘Dark Knight’ wants to make a horror film. Christopher Nolan has shared those wishes publicly, although he has also noted the importance of finding “a truly exceptional idea” before embarking on a production of that caliber. And yet, it’s not because he hasn’t tried. Some of his films already have elements of the genre, but one of them was conceived as a true horror title, as revealed by the filmmaker himself in The Telegraph: ‘Inception’, the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Elliot Page:

“I was thinking along the lines of a horror movie at first, but it eventually became [Inception]’, he revealed. “I was looking for a device whereby the dreams would become important to the story, and the thought that someone could invade your dream space and steal an idea is immensely compelling to me.” According to Nolan, the fact that dreams are perceived as real permeates the entire film.

‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, the classic eighties slasher, already explored the idea of an entity accessing other people’s dreams, although in this case the objective was not to steal a thought, but to kill the dreamer.

Nolan has not found “an exceptional idea” to make a horror film

During a British Film Institute event, Christopher Nolan recalled that Oppenheimer—his most recent feature film—has horror elements because he believes they fit the theme of the film.”I think horror films are very interesting because they depend on very cinematic devices,” he said. “It really is about a visceral response to things, and so, at some point, I’d love to make a horror film. But I think a really good horror film requires a really exceptional idea. And those are few and far between. So I haven’t found a story that lends itself to that.”