Index · 13 feature films · 1998–2026
Christopher Nolan Movies
Christopher Nolan has directed 13 feature films, from the micro-budget noir Following (1998) to The Odyssey (2026). Here are all the Christopher Nolan movies by release date, newest first, with a short note on each and a link to the full page with facts, ratings and box office.
- Feature films
- 13
- Worldwide gross
- $8.07B
- Oscars won
- 18/49 nom.
- Average IMDb
- 8.2
About Nolan
Born in London in 1970, Nolan shoots on film, favours practical effects over CGI and builds his stories around time, memory and identity. He has written or co-written every feature except Insomnia, and since Batman Begins has made his films with producer Emma Thomas through their company, Syncopy.
He studied English literature at University College London and holds British and American citizenship. His brother Jonathan co-wrote several of his scripts, including The Dark Knight and Interstellar, and The Dark Knight was the first major feature shot partly with IMAX cameras.
Nolan and Emma Thomas have been married since 1997. He was knighted in 2024, and in 2025 he became president of the Directors Guild of America.
More on his life and career: Christopher Nolan on Wikipedia.
All films by release date, newest first
Data as of 11 November 2026- 2026
Runtime173 minIMDb8.4RT94%Our score#5 78.7The Odyssey
Adventure · Action · Fantasy
Homer’s epic of Odysseus and his long journey home after the Trojan War.
- 2023
Runtime180 minIMDb8.2RT93%Our score#1 91.3Oppenheimer
Drama · History · War
The physicist who led the Manhattan Project, his triumph at Los Alamos and the reckoning that followed.
- 2020
Runtime150 minIMDb7.3RT70%Our score#11 64.1Tenet
Action · Thriller · Science Fiction
A secret agent learns to move through time in reverse to prevent a war with the future.
- 2017
Runtime106 minIMDb7.8RT92%Our score#4 80.7Dunkirk
War · Action · History
The 1940 evacuation told on land, sea and air, three timelines converging on the beach.
- 2014
Runtime169 minIMDb8.7RT73%Our score#6 75.4Interstellar
Adventure · Drama · Science Fiction
A former pilot leaves his children behind to search for a new home for humanity beyond a wormhole.
- 2012
Runtime164 minIMDb8.4RT87%Our score#8 69.4The Dark Knight Rises
Action · Crime · Thriller
Eight years after Harvey Dent’s death, a broken Bruce Wayne returns as Bane brings Gotham to its knees.
- 2010
Runtime148 minIMDb8.8RT86%Our score#3 82.6Inception
Action · Science Fiction · Crime
A thief who steals secrets from dreams is hired for the reverse: planting an idea in a target’s mind.
- 2008
Runtime152 minIMDb9.1RT94%Our score#2 84.1The Dark Knight
Action · Thriller · Crime
Batman faces the Joker in a crime epic that reshaped what a comic-book film could be.
- 2006
Runtime130 minIMDb8.5RT77%Our score#9 68.7The Prestige
Drama · Mystery · Science Fiction
Two rival stage magicians in Victorian London trade sabotage in an obsessive race for the perfect illusion.
- 2005
Runtime140 minIMDb8.2RT85%Our score#10 67.8Batman Begins
Drama · Crime · Action
Bruce Wayne’s path from grief to the cowl, grounded in a believable Gotham and a new tone for superhero film.
- 2002
Runtime118 minIMDb7.2RT92%Our score#12 62.0Insomnia
Thriller · Crime · Drama
An LAPD detective sent to an Alaskan town where the sun never sets loses sleep, and his grip, during a murder case.
- 2000
Runtime113 minIMDb8.4RT93%Our score#7 71.6Memento
Mystery · Thriller
A man with no short-term memory hunts his wife’s killer using notes, photos and tattoos, with much of the story told in reverse.
- 1998
Runtime70 minIMDb7.4RT87%Our score#13 57.0Following
Drama · Thriller
A jobless writer starts shadowing strangers through London and gets pulled into a burglar’s game. Shot on weekends for about $6,000.
Questions
8 answers01How many movies has Christopher Nolan directed?
Thirteen feature films, from Following (1998) to The Odyssey (2026). He also made short films before his first feature, including Doodlebug (1997).
02What is Christopher Nolan’s best movie?
By our ranking, which combines critics, audiences, awards, box office and our editor’s scores, Oppenheimer comes first with 91.3 out of 100, ahead of The Dark Knight (84.1) and Inception (82.6).
03What are the top 10 Christopher Nolan movies?
Our top 10: 1. Oppenheimer, 2. The Dark Knight, 3. Inception, 4. Dunkirk, 5. The Odyssey, 6. Interstellar, 7. Memento, 8. The Dark Knight Rises, 9. The Prestige, 10. Batman Begins. The Odyssey’s place is provisional until its awards season ends.
04What order should I watch Christopher Nolan’s movies in?
Release order works best: you can see his ideas about time and structure grow from film to film. Watch the Dark Knight trilogy in sequence: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises. Every other film stands on its own.
05What is Christopher Nolan’s biggest movie?
At the box office, The Odyssey: about $1.8 billion worldwide as of November 2026. Next come The Dark Knight Rises ($1.09 billion) and The Dark Knight ($1.01 billion).
06What is Christopher Nolan’s newest movie?
The Odyssey, his adaptation of Homer’s epic with Matt Damon as Odysseus. It opened in July 2026.
07Has Christopher Nolan won an Oscar?
Yes. Oppenheimer won him Best Director and, as one of its producers, Best Picture at the Academy Awards in March 2024. He had been nominated before for Memento, Inception and Dunkirk.
08Who composes the music for Christopher Nolan’s films?
David Julyan scored four: Following, Memento, Insomnia and The Prestige. Hans Zimmer scored six, from Batman Begins to Dunkirk, the first two Batman films together with James Newton Howard. Ludwig Göransson scored the three most recent: Tenet, Oppenheimer and The Odyssey.