Despite publicly telling us that he only thinks one movie at a time, the history of Chris Nolan’s filmography tells us differently. Don’t get me wrong… he probably is 100% focused on delivering the best movie he can with whatever project he is working on at any one time, but he’ll have some corner at the back of his mind brewing over ideas for what is likely to come next.

Nolan started casting his adaptation of Christopher Priest’s period magician thriller The Prestige not long after he delivered Batman Begins in 2005. He then quickly moved on to filming The Dark Knight in 2007, just a few months after delivering The Prestige in late 06. He had also committed himself to making The Dark Knight Rises at Warner Bros around the same time he was getting Inception off the ground.

I’d bet my bottom dollar that Nolan has a pretty good idea (and has for months now) of what movie will follow The Dark Knight Rises that opens in theatres next week. Which is why Michael Caine’s recent comments in an interview with Empire don’t seem so surprising.

The veteran actor has hinted that Chris Nolan has already told him of a part he has reserved for Caine in his next movie. Caine has starred in every Nolan movie for the past seven years, from Batman Begins all the way up to The Dark Knight Rises and the partnership looks set to continue;

“He’s got to go on, he’s got some other idea, and I’m in it! I’ve been in everything he’s done since he’s been in Hollywood. We’re each others’ good luck charms,” he said.

So… what could Nolan’s next feature be?

We were convinced it would be his long-gestating Howard Hughes biopic that would delve into the eccentric entrepreneur’s later, OCD inflicted life… basically picking up where Martin Scorsese’s own biopic The Aviator left off. Certainly last year it looked like that movie was getting off the ground again but last month Nolan poured cold water on that movie getting made.

Outside of that, there’s not much to consider. He has previously met with the Bond producers over doing a 007 film but Sony, MGM and EON Productions aren’t at a stage yet where they can give Nolan a fresh start (i.e. so he can cast who he wants and not worry about continuity) so that  looks a while off. Then there’s a few other bits and bobs, a few of which we mentioned in our 10 Films Chris Nolan Could Direct Next such as an adaptation of the Ruth Rendell mystery The Keys to the Street and an adaptation of the famous Brit TV series The Shadow but both are dead projects now and nothing that seems obvious for next.

So no real hints to go on for what could be next, though I do wonder if Nolan might go for something smaller as his next project, more in-keeping with Memento and The Prestige. Then again this is Nolan and he’s one of a kind… the three HUGE blockbusters he has delivered don’t seem to show any sign of fatigue and if right now is his peak as a blockbuster filmmaker, maybe he’ll decide to just keep making them.

Whatever he ends up directing next, Warner Bros will be offering him a blank cheque on the budget, whether it is a large or small scope flick.

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