Syncopy Inc.
TypePrivately held company
IndustryMotion picture
Founded27 February 2001
FoundersChristopher Nolan
Emma Thomas
Headquarters
London
Los Angeles
OwnersChristopher Nolan
Emma Thomas
Number of employees
4 (2018)

Syncopy Inc.[1] is a production company founded by English-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan and his wife, English film producer Emma Thomas. The name of the company is a play on syncopation and was suggested to Nolan by his late father, who was a classical music fan.[2] It has offices in London[3] and Los Angeles.[4]

History

Founded on 27 February 2001,[5] the majority of Syncopy's productions have been distributed by Warner Bros.[6] They partnered with Legendary Pictures to produce Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). In 2013, Syncopy released Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, and in 2015, they formed a joint venture with Zeitgeist Films to release Blu-ray editions of Zeitgeist's prestige films. The first title in their partnership was Elena (2011), from director Andrey Zvyagintsev.[7] Recently the production company has produced the science fiction film Interstellar (2014), the documentary short Quay (2015), the war film Dunkirk (2017), and the spy film Tenet (2020), all directed by Christopher Nolan.[8]

Other than Nolan and Thomas, the company employs only two people. In a 2018 interview for Vanity Fair, Thomas said, "We're not empire builders, we're about the individual film."[9][10] In October 2021, it was announced that Nolan's next film, titled Oppenheimer, would be shot in IMAX and 65mm film, which released on 21 July 2023. The film stars Cillian Murphy in the title role, with Hoyte van Hoytema, Jennifer Lame, and Ludwig Göransson all returning in their respective technical roles.[11] This is Nolan's first film distributed by Universal Pictures,[12] as well as his second film set in the backdrop of World War II after Dunkirk.[13]

Filmography

Feature films

Year Title Director Co-production company(s) Distributor(s) Box office Ref.
2005 Batman Begins Christopher Nolan Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment Warner Bros. Pictures $373,661,946 [14]
2006 The Prestige Touchstone Pictures, Newmarket Films Warner Bros. Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures $109,676,311 [15]
2008 The Dark Knight Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment Warner Bros. Pictures $1,005,973,645 [16]
2010 Inception Legendary Pictures $836,836,967 [17]
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment $1,081,142,612 [18]
2013 Man of Steel Zack Snyder Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films $668,045,518 [19]
2014 Interstellar Christopher Nolan Legendary Pictures, Lynda Obst Productions Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures $701,729,127 [20]
2017 Dunkirk RatPac-Dune Entertainment Warner Bros. Pictures $526,949,403 [21]
2020 Tenet — $365,294,355 [22]
2023 Oppenheimer Atlas Entertainment Universal Pictures TBA
Box office total: $5,667,144,529 —

References

  1. ^ "Superior Court of The State of California for the County of Los Angeles" (PDF). The Hollywood Reporter. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  2. ^ Shone, p. 18.
  3. ^ "Syncopy Films Inc. - YouTube". YouTube.
  4. ^ Fritz, Ben (14 October 2013). "Hollywood Steps Up Security to Keep Scripts Secret". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  5. ^ "SYNCOPY, INC, Beverly Hills CA - Company Profile | BizStanding". bizstanding.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (10 December 2020). "After Christopher Nolan's Explosive Remarks, Could Warner Bros. Lose Its Superstar Director?". Variety. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Christopher Nolan's Syncopy Teaming With Zeitgeist on Blu-ray Releases (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. 20 February 2015. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Syncopy". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Meet the Woman Behind Dunkirk". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Q&A: Christopher Nolan on the power of the people and why '2001' should be required preschool viewing". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  11. ^ Kroll, Justin (8 October 2021). "Cillian Murphy Confirmed to Star As J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's Next Film at Universal, Film Will Bow in July 2023". Deadline. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' Has Found Its Star and Release Date". Observer. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Christopher Nolan's Next in World War II Backdrop". Gulte.com. 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Batman Begins (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  15. ^ "The Prestige (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  16. ^ "The Dark Knight (2008)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  17. ^ "Inception (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  18. ^ "The Dark Knight Rises (2012)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Man of Steel (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  20. ^ "Interstellar (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Dunkirk (2017)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  22. ^ "Tenet (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.

Further reading

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