Given his status as one of the most prominent and talented filmmakers in Hollywood, Christopher Nolan has an extensive history at the Oscars, but his number of wins is rather surprising. Nolan has directed, written, and produced a plethora of movies over the years, with his feature film debut coming in 1998 with Following. However, Nolan’s second movie, Memento, thrust him into the spotlight and cemented his role as an up-and-coming filmmaker. His other projects include Insomnia, The Dark Knight trilogy, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, and Oppenheimer.
Most of Nolan’s films received critical acclaim, with some performing better at the box office than others. His latest triumph, Oppenheimer, made $955.8 million at the worldwide box office, making it the third highest-grossing movie of 2023. Although it didn’t surpass Nolan’s highest-grossing film (which is The Dark Knight Rises with $1.085 billion), Oppenheimer is regarded as one of his best. That might be due to recency bias, but the 2023 epic biographical thriller’s Oscar nominations say otherwise.
Christopher Nolan Has 0 Best Director Wins
Nolan has been nominated for Best Director twice, including Oppenheimer
Unfortunately, Christopher Nolan has never won an Oscar for Best Director. He was nominated twice — once for Dunkirk at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018 and the other for Oppenheimer at the upcoming 96th Academy Awards in 2024. Nolan was up against Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water, Jordan Peele for Get Out, Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird, and Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread at the 90th ceremony, so he had some tough competition. Ultimately, del Toro took home the Oscar.
For the 96th Academy Awards, Nolan’s competition in the Best Director category is Justine Triet for Academy of a Fall, Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon, Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things, and Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest. However, this time, Nolan is the favorite to win. He previously won the Best Director award for Oppenheimer at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards, which is a good sign regarding his chances of winning the Oscar.
Oppenheimer Timeline – All Events In Chronological Order
Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer tells its story across multiple points in time in a non-linear fashion. Here is a chronological order of events.
Christopher Nolan Has 6 More Oscar Nominations (& 0 Wins)
Nolan has been nominated for Memento, Inception & Dunkirk
Christopher Nolan does not have any Best Director wins at the Oscars. However, the filmmaker has also lost in all the other categories he has been nominated in over the years. Nolan received a nod in the Best Original Screenplay category at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 for Memento but lost to Julian Fellowes for Gosford Park. He was nominated for Best Original Screenplay again in 2011 for Inception but lost to David Seidler for The King’s Speech. Nolan also received Best Picture nominations for Inception and Dunkirk, and neither won. All of Nolan’s Oscar nominations include:
Year | Award | Movie | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
2002 | Best Original Screenplay | Memento | Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) |
2011 | Best Picture | Inception | The King’s Speech |
2011 | Best Original Screenplay | Inception | David Seidler (The King’s Speech) |
2018 | Best Picture | Dunkirk | The Shape of Water |
2018 | Best Director | Dunkirk | Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) |
2024 | Best Picture | Oppenheimer | Pending |
2024 | Best Director | Oppenheimer | Pending |
2024 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Oppenheimer | Pending |
Christopher Nolan’s Movies Have Won 11 Oscars In Total
Nolan’s movies have received 49 nominations
Even though Christopher Nolan himself shockingly never won an Oscar, his movies have accumulated 49 nominations and 11 wins at the Academy Awards. Nolan is regarded as an extremely gifted filmmaker, meaning his projects are often critically acclaimed, resulting in them being recognized in numerous categories at the Oscars. Nolan’s film’s Oscar wins are:
Year | Award | Movie | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Best Supporting Actor | The Dark Knight | Heath Ledger (posthumously) |
2009 | Best Sound Editing | The Dark Knight | Richard King |
2011 | Best Cinematography | Inception | Wally Pfister |
2011 | Best Sound Editing | Inception | Richard King |
2011 | Best Sound Mixing | Inception | Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick |
2011 | Best Visual Effects | Inception | Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, and Peter Bebb |
2015 | Best Visual Effects | Interstellar | Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, and Scott Fisher |
2018 | Best Film Editing | Dunkirk | Lee Smith |
2018 | Best Sound Editing | Dunkirk | Richard King and Alex Gibson |
2018 | Best Sound Mixing | Dunkirk | Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, and Mark Weingarten |
2021 | Best Visual Effects | Tenet | Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott Fisher |
Oppenheimer is nominated in 13 categories at the 2024 Academy Awards, and the movie will undoubtedly win a handful of them. The epic biographical thriller has a significant shot at winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and many others. It’s quite possible that Nolan himself will take home his first Oscar for Oppenheimer.
