Christopher Nolan admits there’s one movie he’s genuinely scared to make

If you ever wondered what could possibly put the wind up Christopher Nolan, it turns out it isn’t black holes, memory puzzles or nuclear physicists, but something a bit more low-stakes on paper: the humble romantic comedy. He popped up on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon while on the promo trail for his latest monster of a film, and honestly, the man was surprisingly open about what really scares him off as a filmmaker.

The Rom-Com Conundrum

Nolan's track record is nothing if not serious – all brooding geniuses and existential dread – so when Fallon asked if he'd ever take a swing at something a touch lighter, Nolan didn’t mince words. Here’s how he broke it down for Fallon:

I think doing a rom-com would be incredibly difficult. I love watching those movies.

He carried on, tipping his hat to those who’ve mastered the art of the punchline. Nolan reckons making people laugh is not only trickier than delivering a plot twist, but it's genuinely ‘terrifying’ to even consider as a director. To him, comedy leaves you properly exposed; there’s no shield if a joke lands flat. You can't just hand-wave a failed gag as "art" if the room’s gone quiet.

There's no hiding behind that when you do comedy.

Nolan explained if an audience isn’t connecting with one of his dramas, he can always tell himself, "Ah, they don't get it." With comedy? If nobody laughs, you haven’t got so much as a paradox box to crawl into. Fair point.

The Odyssey: All-Out Epic Mode

And while Nolan’s staying miles away from meet-cutes and dance-floor montages, he’s been knee-deep in quite the opposite: The Odyssey, his new adaptation of Homer’s legendary yarn. This thing is a technical beast. For starters, it’s already hauled in more than $600 million worldwide – not a bad haul for a retelling of ancient Greek poetry.

The Odyssey has topped $600 million in global box office receipts during its run in cinemas.

Production-wise, it’s got ‘go big or go home’ written all over it. The shoot lasted a hefty 91 days and took Nolan and crew to six countries. Notably, it’s the first film ever shot completely on IMAX cameras. You can thank Nolan’s obsession with scope, but pulling that off meant wrangling some proper kit headaches. IMAX’s famously noisy cameras are a nightmare for dialogue, so engineers had to cobble together a whole new silencing system just for this shoot. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema even came up with a custom mirror rig, letting the actors make proper eye contact without having to peer around a giant lens barrel.