Christopher Nolan took home two Oscars on Sunday night for director and producer of “Oppenheimer.”
Nolan’s final payday for the film, which traces the life of titular scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in creating the atomic bomb, is just south of $100 million, according to knowledgeable sources. That figure represents a combination of salary, backend compensation, box-office escalators and a bonus for his twin Academy Awards.
The Universal film — which nabbed seven Oscars total, including trophies for actor Cillian Murphy and supporting actor Robert Downey Jr. — was made on a budget of $100 million. After its release on July 19, becoming half of the one-two “Barbenheimer” punch, the film earned $958 million worldwide, a mammoth sum considering “Oppenheimer’s” R rating and three-hour running time.
It also marks the highest-grossing best picture winner since 2004’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” “Oppenheimer” is being rereleased in 1,000 theaters this weekend with its newly minted best picture status. That should run up the film’s final box-office tally and eclipse the $1 billion threshold, thus triggering an additional bonus for the director.
Warner Bros. and Universal are the two studios most likely to prevail in the race for Nolan’s services, but it would be hard for the filmmaker to walk away from the latter considering that Universal helped him pull off what Warner Bros. never could.
Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” deal was negotiated by his longtime agent Dan Aloni at WME at attorney Michael Schenkman.
