I am totally convinced these 5 Christopher Nolan movies would have been epic TV shows as well

Christopher Nolan has delivered some of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed films in modern times. He stands out as someone who knows how to balance artistic sensibilities with blockbuster filmmaking ethics. I've also been a big admirer of his work since the beginning.

The way he started out with low-budget filmmaking and eventually climbed the Hollywood ladder to helm big-budget tentpoles is inspiring. But I also believe that some of his stories would have been epic as television shows as well.

In this article, I will be digging into five such films of Nolan that also suit the long-format storytelling.

5 Christopher Nolan movies that would make great TV shows

1) Memento (2000)

Memento was the first film by Christopher Nolan that was backed by a Hollywood studio. I couldn't piece together this film when I first saw it. But in my second and third viewings, this story started to grow on me. So I can't help but imagine it as a television show where the protagonist continues to look for his wife. Meanwhile, there are characters who are trying to take advantage of his condition and every episode begins on a clean slate.

2) The Dark Knight trilogy (2005-12)

Did you enjoy The Dark Knight trilogy? Now imagine it as an eight-episode television series with a new villain in each episode. Sounds fun, right? My imagination is the live-action version of the 1990s Batman animated series, with the grimness that Nolan introduced to this world. We have seen several superheroes getting a TV show, like Daredevil and Peacemaker. So the Caped Crusader would also fit the bill.

3) Dunkirk (2017)

For everyone who has enjoyed HBO's Band of Brothers, they could see a television show's potential in Dunkirk. This Christopher Nolan war thriller is nail-biting from the get-go. Because the real-life story is so big, it would be suited for the long format if Nolan is in the director's chair. There's also a dearth of good war TV shows, and I believe Dunkirk would be able to fill that gap in our pop culture.

4) Inception (2010)

Inception talks about a group of people getting into a man's mind to change his thinking about a certain thing. Now imagine, instead of just one heist mission, there are multiple, told through different episodes. The uphill task would be to maintain that level of adrenaline rush and thrill that Nolan captured in his film. But it would be fun to watch a high-concept storyline like this be made into a television show.

5) Oppenheimer (2023)

Oppenheimer is the film that finally gave Christopher Nolan his Oscar for Best Director. The film focuses on theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project that he led, which created the first nuclear weapons. While the film extensively covers a lot of things, certain aspects were still missing. I believe all that can be comprehensively told in a television show format. Things like Oppenheimer's life post the Japan bombing and his personal life in detail, as well as his eventual death.