10 Highest-Grossing Christopher Nolan Movies
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Christopher Nolan is considered to be one of the greatest directors of the two decades, having created some classic movies that will go down in cinema history, with many arguing that his catalog of work is the greatest ever created.
Most fan's favorite movies can be found within Nolan's library, with the writer and director being well known for creating masterpieces that aren't just visually stunning but also force an audience to think.
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Always bringing in some of the biggest names in Hollywood, Nolan's movies are ones that fans rush to see, which is why they are such box office monsters, and within this article, we will rank the 10 highest-grossing films of his esteemed career,
The Quay Brothers In 35mm (Box Office: $51,858)
While this 2015 movie wasn't exactly a box office sensation, it was never expected or intended to be, with Christopher Nolan being a major fan of the work the Quay Brothers did, he decided to join with them to create this program.
This was just a short and it received critical acclaim, so the fact that it went as well as it did really highlighted the power of Nolan and his fan base as it brought a lot more eyes to their work.
Even though it isn't his biggest success in comparison to other movies on this list, it was a project that Nolan enjoyed being part of and was one he will no doubt look back on fondly.
Memento (Box Office: $25,544,867)
Memento is an incredible movie and is one that should be on any movie buffs bucket list, and it certainly did well for Christopher Nolan at the box office, making $25,544,86 in total.
This movie set the tone for what to expect from Nolan films moving forward, with a clever plot and a unique way of telling the story, starting from the end and working backwards to reveal the story.
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The plot follows a character who has the inability to create new memories and is attempting to find the person who attacked him and killed his wife, using a series of Polaroid pictures to clue it all together in a very entertaining movie.
The Prestige (Box Office: $53,089,891)
Making $53,089,891 at the box office, The Prestige remains one of Christopher Nolan's most commercially successful and popular movies, with the 2006 release remaining a firm fan favorite.
The psychological thriller features both Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, a stellar duo who put in incredible performances in order to make this movie that focuses on magic and illusions a success.
The story follows two rival magicians in England as they both desperately attempt to create the best stage illusion that the world has ever seen, one-upping each other constantly with major effects.
Insomnia (Box Office: $67,355,513)
Next on the list is Insomnia, which was released back in 2002 and made an impressive $67,355,513, a very impressive tally for a movie at that time period, although with the impressive cast it isn't a big surprise.
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The movie had both Al Pacino and Robin Williams starring, which was a huge deal for Christopher Nolan who was still breaking in as a top-level director at this time, but it was clear everyone already wanted to work with.
The plot of the film saw two Los Angeles homicide detectives investigating a murder, with this being the only movie to date that didn't see Nolan get any credit for writing as well as directing.
Interstellar (Box Office: $188,020,017)
Christopher Nolan once again entered the science fiction world in 2014 with the movie, Interstellar, and it was a decision that worked for him as the movie grossed $188,020,017 at the box office.
The film has some breathtaking visuals which are backed up with one of the greatest movie scores that has ever been created as Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway turned in some superb performances to match.
With the world on its brink, as corn is the only crop left, former NASA pilot, James Cooper has to once again head to space in a bid to save humanity, in what is a fairly complex and scientific movie.
Dunkirk (Box Office: $189,740,665)
The latest movie that Christopher Nolan has directed is Dunkirk, and he certainly proved he is still one of the best in the business with this incredibly emotional movie as Nolan provided a story based around the World War II events that happened at Dunkirk.
Having several different small storylines taking place at the same time, all eventually culminating in one final moment, a climactic third phase was an incredible piece of filmmaking.
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The movie jam-packed all the emotion you would expect, while not shying away from the terror and devastation that took place during this historic event, bringing it to the silver screen perfectly.
Batman Begins (Box Office: $206,852,432)
Christopher Nolan has delved into the superhero world during his career, with a trilogy of Batman movies, which began with this film, Batman Begins, which was released back in 2005 and earned $206,852,432 at the box office.
Unlike most superhero movies, Batman Begins wasn't all about jokes and things being over the top, instead, Nolan decided to keep the film grounded in reality as much as possible, with this being an incredibly dark movie.
The casting of Christian Bale was a fantastic decision which worked to perfection, with Bale creating arguably the greatest Batman of all time, which helped the movies do so well.
Inception (Box Office: $292,576,195)
What an incredible movie Inception is, a complex and thought-provoking, it isn't a film that you can simply throw on in the background and expect to understand, but that is exactly why the film thrived so much.
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With an unbelievable ensemble cast featuring the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, and Leonardo Di Caprio, amongst many others, Nolan certainly made sure that there was plenty of stars on display.
With a budget of $160 million, the movie certainly thrived as the story focused on implanting an idea in a person's subconscious through dreaming, which led to a fascinating movie.
The Dark Knight Rises (Box Office: $448,139,099)
The final movie in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy was yet another stunning superhero film that brought together all three films with some fantastic storytelling callbacks and brilliant action all being blended nicely together.
Nolan made the decision to have Bane as the lead villain for the climax of this and it certainly paid off, with the movie earning $448,139,099 at the box office, which clearly showed Nolan had built up a trusted audience in this franchise.
Of course, in classic Nolan fashion, he left the audience questioning exactly how the movie ended, with the possibility that Batman died, and also that he stayed alive, depending on how you looked at certain scenes.
The Dark Knight (Box Office: $535,234,033)
While the final movie in the trilogy did incredibly, it was The Dark Knight itself that earned the most money out of the three Batman films and has actually ended up being Christopher Nolan's most successful film in terms of finance.
The movie earned an incredible $535,234,033 at the box office, and a large reason for that is the unbelievable performance by Heath Ledger, which was, unfortunately, his final role as an actor before his death.
The Joker is always considered as Batman's greatest enemy and the fact Nolan was able to take him to such a dark and edgy place really benefited the movie, pushing the boundaries as far as superhero movies are concerned, which is still considered to be one of the best in the genre.
