On the cusp of perhaps Christopher Nolan’s biggest swing in theatrical storytelling with The Odyssey hitting theaters the 2026 movie schedule in a couple of months, the director believes that movie theaters will be around for the long haul and not just in the short term.
Despite many (most?) people thinking they are on their way out, or at least becoming more of a specialty, in the age of home theaters and streaming services, Nolan makes a great case for why they will survive. After hearing Nolan’s remarks, not only do I love his "confidence," but I also agree with everything he said. Hollywood is changing, but (hopefully) there will always be room for theaters.
Nolan Still Believes In Theaters
In the streaming era, especially post-pandemic, movie theaters have struggled at times. No one can dispute that, even if theater owners are bullish right now. That doesn’t mean they are going the way of the dodo bird, either. Sure, things are changing. We may, in fact, reach a time where there isn’t a theater in every town, or the number of theaters will be greatly reduced, but there will always be a place for them. Nolan understands that.
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, promoting his upcoming epic, The Odyssey, Nolan explained his reasoning:
I have such confidence in the theatrical experience and watching the work of new filmmakers coming along and getting audiences out to theaters. Theatrical film is a very, very unique form of storytelling. It’s only about 100 years old. And it represents this very, very mysterious and magical combination of different media.
He goes on to compare it to a medium that has been around for as long as The Odyssey has been around, the other kind of theater. Nolan said:
So it has the communal experience of a stage play, but it has the subjectivity of a novel. So you’re both watching a very individual perspective and having a very individual view on the film, but you’re also experiencing it with the audience. It brings these two things together in a way that no other medium has done before. That’s what makes it unique, and that’s why it always endures.
This really hit home for me, and is why I ultimately completely agree with the Oppenheimer director. There is something special about seeing a story being told with a group of people, both friends and strangers. Just as Homer told his story through a poem in ancient Greece, so does Nolan speak to his modern audience in his best movies. Yes, the mediums are very different, but the results are the same. A communal experience with people reacting to the story in real time.
I don’t think Nolan is delusional here. He acknowledges that Hollywood and the people who watch its movies are changing. He notes that he grew up watching movies like Blade Runner dozens of times on VHS, just as people watch movies on iPads today. That doesn’t mean people won’t still want to see movies in the dark in a chilly theater on the big screen with other people sharing in their experience. I completely agree, and I can’t wait to see The Odyssey on the biggest screen possible.
