Christopher Nolan Reveals He Was Initially Set to Direct This Famous Epic Historical Film

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Christopher Nolan recently revealed a little-known story about Hollywood in an interview with Empire Magazine.

Nolan shared that Warner Bros. first approached him to direct the historical action movie “Troy” right after he finished his 2002 thriller, “Insomnia.”

Nolan revealed he was first brought on to direct the film Troy by Warner Bros. Wolfgang Petersen had already done a lot of work developing it, and when the studio passed on his superhero project, Batman vs Superman, he asked to regain control of Troy.

Nolan didn’t end up directing the film “Troy.” Instead, he went on to make “Batman Begins” in 2005, which launched his highly praised Dark Knight trilogy. Writer and actor David Goyer has described this as a sort of backup plan offered to Nolan after the studio chose someone else, Petersen, to direct “Troy.”

The 2004 film Troy was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and featured a cast including Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, and Diane Kruger.

The movie “Troy” reimagined the classic tale of the Trojan War, based on Homer’s “Iliad” but streamlined for the screen and drawing on other sources like Quintus Smyrnaeus’s “Posthomerica.” While some critics felt it deviated too much from the original story, the film was a major box office success, earning nearly $500 million globally and ranking as the eighth highest-grossing film of 2004.

Nolan has long been captivated by the story of Troy and its myths, and he’s been considering how to tell it for quite some time. He explained, “I was really drawn to that world and wanted to explore it. I’ve been thinking about it for years, especially about how to depict iconic elements like the Trojan horse.”

This discovery highlights how a single film can dramatically change a director’s career. Unlike Wolfgang Petersen, whose career slowed down after “Troy,” Christopher Nolan used his work to become one of the most respected and impactful filmmakers of his generation, particularly with the Batman series and his unique original films.

It’s interesting to think about how Christopher Nolan might have retold the story of Achilles and Hector. Would his version have been as good as, or even better than, the one directed by Wolfgang Petersen? Because Nolan often works with stories rooted in myth, it’s possible he’ll revisit this tale in the future.

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2025-11-22 12:15