Creator Jonathan Nolan Is Ready To Unleash Series ‘Fallout’ & Finish ‘Westworld’!

Creator Jonathan Nolan Is Ready To Unleash Series ‘Fallout’ & Finish ‘Westworld’!

"Jonathan Nolan has co-written some of the finest genre films of the 21st century (from The Prestige to Interstellar to The Dark Knight) and co-showrun one of the most groundbreaking sci-fi TV shows ever made (Westworld). Now, he’s back — this time as director and executive producer of Amazon’s dramatic adaptation of the blockbuster Fallout video game franchise.

I met up with Nolan (brother of director Christopher Nolan and partner to his producing and showrunning collaborator Lisa Joy) at his hotel during the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival. His clean-cut look from his days on Westworld has been replaced by the filmmaker sporting long, slicked-back brown hair and a wispy beard, and it wasn’t until afterward that I realized who he resembles — Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne during his prison stint in the first act of the Nolans’ film Batman Begins.

Since Westworld was surprisingly canceled after four seasons, Nolan also had the short-lived Amazon sci-fi series The Peripheral (which was renewed for a second season, then un-renewed during the Hollywood strikes). Below, he talks about helping to adapt Fallout (he directed the first three episodes), the impact of that other video game drama The Last of Us, his friendship with Elon Musk, still wanting to finish Westworld, a benefit of Christopher Nolan’s “no chairs on set” rule and the curative power of Pilates.

Is there any possibility that Westworld‘s original planned ending will be dramatized in any form — whether as a graphic novel or a movie or anything? Do you still have hope for that?

'Yes, 100 percent. We’re completionists. It took me eight years and a change of director to get Interstellar made. We’d like to finish the story we started.' 

How much did Warners taking the show off Max bother you? To not just cancel it but to remove it from the streaming service. 

Look, my career began on CBS [with Person of Interest]. The amount of people you can reach with a free, ad-supported service [like Roku and Tubi, which had Westworld last year] is vastly higher than with a subscription service. That part didn’t bother me. But in terms of finishing the story, you understand that you get the time that you get, sometimes it’s as much as you want, sometimes it’s not. I’m so fucking proud of what we made. It was an extraordinary experience. I think it would be a mistake to look back and only feel regret [over how it ended]. But there’s still very much a desire to finish it." - Hollywoodreporter.com

There you have it care bears!