7. The Keys to the Street
The Keys to the Street has been tied to Christopher Nolan since 1998 when he had just made his first feature,
Following. It is based on a Ruth Rendell story where a woman falls in love with the man whose life she saves through bone marrow donation. However he is not what he seems. This seems perfect for Christopher Nolan, matching his psychological thriller background. However Nolan is no longer linked with the Fox Searchlight project. You see, just after his debut Indie film
Following put him on the studio radar back in 1998 - Nolan took the work for hire gig of adapting this mediocre novel just to pay the bills whilst he was working on
Memento, and later
Insomnia. He dropped all plans to make the film in 2002. As Fox Searchlights adaptation has been long dead (and obviously Nolan wont be directing), the script has been readily available for years online, though only in a revised form by DTV horror writer Michael Stokes. Indeed,
Carson Reeves at Script Shadow gave it a read a few years back and declared FUCK THIS SCRIPT in a impassioned negative review;
I think the biggest problem with The Keys To The Street goes back to one of the first things you learn in screenwriting class. Give us a main character we want to root for. I never liked Mary. I didnt know her. I thought she was weak. I thought she was stupid. I thought she was spineless. I could care less if she was taken advantage of because I thought she deserved it. I wanted people to fuck her over. If thats how I feel about your main character, you could write Citizen Fucking Kane and it wouldnt matter.
Who Would Star: In recent years Gemma Arterton has said that she was signed on as a member of the cast for a revived version of the film at Fox but that was way after Nolan had left the reigns. Still if Nolan has interest in returning to this saga, he could do a lot worse than the talented Londoner.
Likelihood as Nolan's Next Movie?: Probably not. Christopher himself has said that the script has too much in common with his first three films,
Following, Memento, and
Insomnia. However he said this way back when before
Batman Begins. Has he had enough of a break now from films that were all about the human mind? If you dont count the more action-based
Inception he might be ready to return to his roots.