In an interview with Variety, Christopher Nolan spoke about his work on the script of a film which was a biopic dedicated to Howard Hughes. But Martin Scorsese pulled the rug out from under his feet with his competing project, Aviator…
Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese, two big names in cinema, two filmmakers more than widely acclaimed for their respective vision of their art, and the works that nourish them. Two film-loving filmmakers, also very attached to cinema as a heritage value, to the physical medium.
If they respect and esteem each other, they also remain competitors despite everything, as the Oscar winners very recently showed, with Oppenheimer’s raid and his 7 Oscars including that of Best Director, where Killers of The Flower Moon unfortunately left empty-handed despite its ten nominations.
If Nolan has of course seen the works of his colleague, there is however one film that he still refuses to watch: Aviator. And the reason is rather painful for him.
A competing project
Long before Martin Scorsese released his biopic devoted to Howard Hughes played by Leonardo diCaprio in 2005, Nolan was also working on a script concerning the character, which he wanted to direct. A film where Jim Carrey was even considered to play the title role.
In an interview published in Variety published in November 2023, Nolan explained that although he had worked hard on the script for his film, Scorsese’s was completed before his, denying him politeness, in addition to having the assurance of seeing the film finance.
“It was emotionally painful”
From then on, there is no longer any reason to continue working on it… “It was emotionally painful to not be able to do anything with what I had spent so much time on.” he commented. At that time, Nolan was still far from becoming the adored filmmaker he is now, and it was much more difficult for him to secure – particularly financially – the projects he was working on.
Forced to throw away his hard work, Nolan will immediately work on the rebirth of a famous superhero, with Batman Begins.