Breaking Down Christopher Nolan's Movies By The Numbers |

This week, after many release date bumps, some controversy, and the divisive reviews that only a Christopher Nolan movie can generate, Tenet is finally hitting theaters in the U.S.

This will be the 10th feature film of Nolan’s career; his very first feature, Following, was released in 1998. In the more than two decades since, Nolan has grown to become one of the most well-respected and interesting filmmakers with a clearly-defined style. His movies are known for their high-concept ideas involving multiple layers and twists, inventive visuals, a devotion to using practical effects where possible, and memorable scores. Over the years, his trademark filmmaking has earned him a large and loyal following and his movies always do big business at the box office. And he does it all with a surprisingly low average production budget of $110.5 million per movie – not too shabby for a director whose movies make back, on average, over four times their production budgets.

So, how much money do Nolan’s movies make, exactly? Let’s rank them by box office haul.

Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked By Global Box Office (Not Adjusted For Inflation)

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – $1.1 billion
The Dark Knight (2008) – $1.0 billion
Inception (2010) – $826.1 million
Interstellar (2014) – $677.5 million
Dunkirk (2017) – $525.2 million
Batman Begins (2005) – $371.9 million
Insomnia (2002) – $113.7 million
The Prestige (2006) – $110 million
Memento (2001) – $39.7 million
Following (1999) – $240,495

Altogether, Nolan’s films have made a whopping $4.7 billion at the global box office. Some were hits right off the back and others took a minute to get there. How have Nolan’s movies fared domestically in their opening weekend? Let’s take a look.

Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked By Domestic Opening Weekend

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – $160.9 million
The Dark Knight (2008) – $158.4 million
Inception (2010) – $62.8 million
Dunkirk (2017) – $50.5 million
Batman Begins (2005) – $48.7 million
Interstellar (2014) – $47.5 million
Insomnia (2002) – $20.9 million
The Prestige (2006) – $14.8 million
Memento (2001) – $235,488
Following (1999) – $48,482 (entire domestic run)

You might note Following didn’t have an opening weekend total as I couldn’t find the numbers. As Nolan’s first feature film, it was more of a film festival showcase. But what’s remarkable about it is that it was an extremely low-budget – some would call it a no-budget film – costing just $6,000 to make.

Speaking of budgets, what about them? Let’s have some fun and rank Nolan’s movies from lowest to highest reported budget.

Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked By Production Budget (Lowest To Highest)

Following (1999) – $6,000
Memento (2001) – $9,000,000
The Prestige (2006) – $40,000,000
Insomnia (2002) – $46,000,000
Dunkirk (2017) – $100,000,000
Batman Begins (2005) – $150,000,000
Inception (2010) – $160,000,000
Interstellar (2014) – $165,000,000
The Dark Knight (2008) – $185,000,000
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – $250,000,000

And, hey, while we’re talking about budgets and box office hauls, let’s have some fun and see if we can break down which of Nolan’s movies has made the most money per minute of run time. That would be the total box office gross minus the production budget (and marketing budget, but as those are never reported, we’ll just stick with production), then divide that by the total run time.

Most Profitable Christopher Nolan Movies Per Minute Of Run Time, Ranked

Following (1999) – $3,398 per minute
Memento (2001) – $271,681 per minute
The Prestige (2006) – $538,461 per minute
Insomnia (2002) – $573,728 per minute
Batman Begins (2005) – $1,585,000 per minute
Interstellar (2014) – $3,032,544 per mnute
Dunkirk (2017) – $4,011,320 per minute
Inception (2010) – $4,500,675 per minute
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – $5,182,927 per minute
The Dark Knight (2008) – $5,361,842 per minute

For all that work, it’s earned Christopher Nolan eight #1 openings at the box office, five Oscar nominations, four Golden Globe nominations, five BAFTA nominations, and an eye-popping 223 award nominations in total.

We’ll have to wait and see where Tenet lands on the list, but with a strong overseas opening, it looks poised to be Nolan’s next hit, with or without COVID-19.