‘Sometimes you catch a wave’

New York – Christopher Nolan was still asleep when his film, “Oppenheimer,” landed a leading 13 Academy Awards nominations on Tuesday. Emma Thomas, Nolan’s wife and producing partner, woke him up after a blast of congratulatory messages on his phone.

“Don’t take it as an insult,” Nolan told The Associated Press with a laugh. “We just didn’t want to attach anything. Watching the nominations was more than our nerves so we just had a restless night and went to sleep.”

Nolan and Thomas didn’t have much reason to worry. “Oppenheimer,” Nolan’s J. Walter Oppenheimer’s sprawling American saga and the creation of the atomic bomb has been an Oscar front-runner since its acclaimed debut in late July. On Tuesday, he received nominations for his achievement, including acting for Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt.

“Oppenheimer” was nominated for Nolan’s direction and adapted screenplay; for cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema; Editing by Jennifer Lam; costume design by Ellen Mirojnik; production design by Ruth de Jong and Claire Kaufman; Makeup and Hairstyling by Louisa Abel; best sound; and a score by Ludwig Gorensson. It came one nomination shy of tying the record for the best Oscar nominations ever.

“It’s amazing,” Thomas said of her husband in an interview hours after the nomination was announced. “

Although Nolan is considered one of the major canvas writers of his era, he has never won an Academy Award — nor has any of his films won Best Picture. He was nominated for best director once before for “Dunkirk.” But Nolan’s absence from movie’s biggest stage has often been more notable than the accolades his films have garnered. After his “The Dark Knight” was snubbed for best picture in 2009, the Academy expanded the category to more than five films.

But this year’s Oscars may mark a coronation for Nolan, 53, and the three-hour opus that grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide — and broke conventional Hollywood logic — records. On Tuesday, he and Thomas reflected on the film’s Oscar success. ___

AP: Do you see the success of “Oppenheimer” as a statement to the industry — which typically funnels big budgets into sequels and remakes — of what’s possible for an original film made with scale?

Nolan: I grew up loving Hollywood movies and believing that studio filmmaking could do anything. Seeing the audience response that this summer was so exciting and getting this kind of recognition from the Academy, I really don’t know what to say. It certainly confirms our faith in what studio filmmaking can be.

AP: Have you reflected on why “Oppenheimer” resonates so much?

Nolan: It’s always a difficult thing to try to analyze the zeitgeist or to analyze success. We were really interested and excited, especially, to see the youth responding to the piece of history. I keep coming back to the unique nature of the story. I think it’s one of the great American stories. It is very important and dramatic about our history. It gives the audience a lot to latch on to, when you’ve got a great group of actors and incredible actors like us, you can make this realistic and emotionally accessible. As far as I can analyze its success. Besides that, sometimes you catch a wave and it’s a wonderful and unique thing.

Thomas: A lot of times you think of history as the ancient past, and it’s not very relevant to today. But I think what’s unique about Oppenheimer’s story is that everything the movie deals with has direct relevance to this moment in time as well. And so I think that’s something that really touched the audience.

Nolan: Yeah, that’s a good point. When I first started the project, one of my kids told me about nuclear weapons, people my age don’t really care that much. This was a few years ago. With everything that has been going on in the world since then, it has changed a lot. We came to a time when people were starting to worry about this again, and were worrying about the future of the world. Oppenheimer’s story is so relevant to that — not just the threat of nuclear weapons but the growing threat of AI and what it could do to our world.

AP: Although your films have often been celebrated by the Academy, none of you have won an Oscar. Does this year feel different?

Nolan: I think the magnitude of the belief that we woke up to this morning is something we haven’t experienced before, and that’s really exciting for us. It’s a very unique feeling to see the Academy recognize all the different aspects of a film, from performance to technical achievement. I mean, I grew up watching the Academy Awards. It is the pinnacle of recognition of your peers.

AP: Do you see “Oppenheimer” as the culmination of your collaboration together?

Thomas: It definitely feels like a film made with all the things we’ve learned together over the years. All this came together in this film. But I hope it is not the climax. I hope we make another one. (Laughs) We’re at the midway point!

Nolan: We’re just getting started! With each film, you try to build on what you’ve learned from previous films.

AP: Any big plans to celebrate tonight?

Thomas: Well, we’ll probably have dinner with our kids. We have one who is going back to college. We will have a family celebration, which seems entirely appropriate given the nature of our movie and the way we work.

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Follow AP film writer Jake Coyle here: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP