How do you follow Oppenheimer? By spending \u00a3250m bringing Homer\u2019s epic poem to the big screen in Imax. Today\u2019s most powerful director talks big swings, trauma-bonding and the healing powers of chocolate labrador Charlie<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m in that moment of sheer terror,\u201d <\/strong>says Christopher Nolan, sitting in a suite at the Corinthia hotel in London, in a slightly rumpled suit, next to a pot of tea. Outside, crowds jostle, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the stars within \u2013 Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong\u2019o. It is the day before the world premiere of Nolan\u2019s latest film, an adaptation of Homer\u2019s epic poem the Odyssey, and the last day of waiting before audiences decide whether the biggest gamble of Nolan\u2019s career has paid off. The film, which reportedly cost $250m (\u00a3185m), doesn\u2019t just need an audience to show up. It needs the entire moviegoing world to do so.<\/p>\n \u201cIt never gets any easier, because <\/strong>I make films for audiences and the audience tells me what it likes,\u201d he says. \u201cThey finish the film. I don\u2019t have anything to hide behind. I can\u2019t just be like: \u2018Oh, people don\u2019t get it.\u2019 Those aren\u2019t the films I make. <\/strong>What does the audience make of it? Do they turn up? Do they like it if they do turn up?<\/p>\n
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