Dame Emma Thomas, Lady Nolan[1] (born 9 December 1971) is a British film producer. She has producedall of the feature films directed by her husbandChristopher Nolan, which have grossed more than $6 billion worldwide and are regarded as some of the greatest films of their respective decades.[2][3][4]
Nolan introduced Thomas to theUCL Union's Film Society, where they arrangedfeature film screenings in35mm and used the proceeds to producenewsreels andshort films.[6] Thomas credits Nolan and the Film Society for sparking her interest infilmmaking,[6] and would provide refreshments for the crew members of her partner's short films.[9] Upon her graduation from university, she had a "very awkward" conversation with her father in which he tried unsuccessfully to persuade her into working in the Civil Service.[6]
While attending UCL, Thomas completed an unpaidinternship withWorking Title Films and worked as a runner and a receptionist.[6] After earning her bachelor's degree in ancient history in 1993,[10] she was promoted to aproduction coordinator for the studio.[9] The first film that she produced was the short featureDoodlebug (1997), which depicts a man anxiously trying to kill a bug-like creature in his flat. She and Nolan created the work on16mm film during their time at university.[11]
After plans to create a full-length feature,Larry Mahoney, were scrapped,[12] Thomas produced her first feature,Following (1998), with Nolan andJeremy Theobald, who stars as an unemployed young writer who follows strangers in London in hopes of receiving material for his first novel, but is drawn into a criminal underworld where he fails to keep his distance.[13] The film was conceived on aproduction budget of around £3,000 (equivalent to £6,668 in 2023) and was filmed on weekends over the course of a year, with scenes being rehearsed extensively to preservefilm stock.[13]Following was positively received byfilm critics and won several awards at variousfilm festivals.[14]
Thomas pitched Nolan's screenplay for their breakthrough filmMemento (2000), which follows a man withanterograde amnesia who uses photographs, notes and tattoos to hunt his wife's murderer, toAaron Ryder ofNewmarket Films, who lauded the script.[15] The film was given a budget of $4.5 million (equivalent to $8,200,000 in 2024) and was distributed by Newmarket to 500 theatres in the United States after it was rejected by other studios, who feared that it would not attract a wide audience. Thomas was credited as an associate producer ofMemento, which received critical acclaim and several accolades, including two nominations at the74th Academy Awards.[16] Six critics listed it as one of thebest films of the 2000s.[17][18] She also assisted directorStephen Frears during the production ofHigh Fidelity (2000).[19][20]
On 27 February 2001, Thomas and Nolan founded the production companySyncopy Inc.[21] She co-produced thepsychological thrillerInsomnia (2002), after filmmakerSteven Soderbergh recommended Nolan toWarner Bros. to direct a remake of the 1997Norwegian thriller of the same name. The film follows two Los Angeles detectives who were sent to investigate the murder of a teenager in a northern Alaskan town. It received positive reviews from critics and grossed $113 million against a budget of $43 million.[22][23]
During production of theDark Knight trilogy, Thomas producedThe Prestige (2006), an adaptation ofthe Christopher Priest novel about two rival 19th-century magicians, andInception (2010), an original film about a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating thesubconscious of his targets. Both films were critically and commercially successful:The Prestige earned over $109 million on a budget of $40 million, despite receiving a bleak box office prognosis, whileInception grossed $839 million worldwide against a budget of $160 million.[28] Thomas received several accolades for her work on the latter film, including nominations for theAcademy Award,Golden Globe Award, andBAFTA Award for Best Film.[29][30][31] She and Nolan producedZack Snyder'sMan of Steel (2013), which received mixed reviews and grossed more than $660 million worldwide against a budget of $220 million.[32][33]
Thomas's next featureInterstellar (2014), which she produced with Nolan andLynda Obst, follows a group of astronauts who travel through awormhole nearSaturn in search of a new home for humankind. It received positive reviews from film critics and was praised by astronauts for its scientific accuracy and portrayal of theoretical astrophysics.[34] Grossing over $730 million worldwide against a budget of $165 million,Interstellar received five nominations at the87th Academy Awards, winningBest Visual Effects.[35] Earlier in the year, she executive-producedWally Pfister's directorial debutTranscendence.[36] Through her production company, Thomas formed a joint venture withZeitgeist Films to releaseBlu-ray versions ofElena (2011) and a compilation of animated short films by theQuay brothers.[37] She serves on theMotion Picture & Television Fund Board of Directors.[38]
After executive producing Zack Snyder'sBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) andJustice League (2017), Thomas produced thehistoricalwar filmDunkirk (2017), which depicts theWorld War IIevacuation of the same name from the perspectives of the land, sea, and air.[39] She and her husband were first interested in creating the film after taking an "ill-fated" sailing trip across theEnglish Channel about twenty years prior, which "very much cemented for us what an incredible achievement that evacuation was".[9] The film received critical acclaim and grossed $526 million worldwide against a budget of around $82.5–150 million,[a] becoming the highest-grossing World War II film at the time.[43] AmongDunkirk'smany accolades, Thomas earned her second Oscar nomination for Best Picture.[44] A year later, she and Nolan executive produced the Quay brothers' animated shortThe Doll's Breath (2019).[45] She was appointed to the Board of Trustees for theAcademy Museum of Motion Pictures.[46]
Tenet (2020), Thomas's next feature, follows an unnamed protagonist who travels through time to prevent a world-threatening attack.[47] The film was the first Hollywoodtent-pole to open in theatres during theCOVID-19 pandemic; it wasdelayed three times before premiering due to the pandemic. Despite failing tobreak-even,Tenet grossed $363 million worldwide on a budget of $200 million. It was a polarising screening for film critics;USA Today's Jenna Ryu and theLos Angeles Times' Christi Carras both described the overall tone of the reviews as "mixed" and "all over the place".[48][49] The film wonBest Visual Effects and was nominated forBest Production Design at the93rd Academy Awards.[50] Following the release ofTenet, Thomas served as an executive producer onZack Snyder's Justice League (2021), adirector's cut of 2017'sJustice League.[51]
Thomas's twelfth film,Oppenheimer (2023), is abiographicalthriller centered around the career of theoretical physicistJ. Robert Oppenheimer and his involvement in the creation of the firstnuclear weapons.[52][53] It marked her and her husband's first film to receive anR-rating in the United States sinceInsomnia,[52] and their first to be financed and distributed throughUniversal Pictures, following a public dispute between Nolan and Warner Bros.[54] Thomas considersOppenheimer to be her and Nolan's "riskiest" film to date, explaining that she "didn't feel there was a guaranteed audience for this film. I hoped people would feel they needed to see it in theaters, but many people still weren't back post-COVID. And there's the fact we've heard nothing but 'theaters are over' for a while now. So it wasn't a no-brainer. Not only did it feel like it was a risky film to make, it felt like the stakes had never been higher".[6]Oppenheimer was filmed on a 57-day shooting schedule with a production budget of $100 million, which Thomas liked because it kept their work fresh.[55] It was met with widespread critical acclaim and grossed over $950 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing biographical film; it also surpassedDunkirk as the highest-grossing World War II-related film of all time.[56][57]Oppenheimer wonmany accolades, including top honours at the96th Academy Awards, the77th British Academy Film Awards, and the81st Golden Globe Awards.[58][59] Thomas is the first British female producer to win the Oscar for Best Picture.[60]
Described as a "dream producer for both talent andstudio" byVariety, Thomas' production sets are "notoriously harmonious", as they have consistently wrapped on schedule and on budget.[6]Vanity Fair considers her to be her husband's "consigliere",[9] whileRobbie Collin ofThe Telegraph regards her as the "driving force" behind the success of "cinema's most formidablepower couple".[62] Thomas has also been praised by her frequent collaborators.Cillian Murphy, who has appeared in six of her films, described her relationship with Nolan as "the most dynamic, decent, [and] kindest producer–director partnership in Hollywood".[63] Film editorJennifer Lame was "in awe" at Thomas and called her an "unflappable" and "badass producer" who creates "complicated, beautiful films".[64]
Thomas was named a honorary fellow of UCL in 2013.[10] She and Nolan were given the Spirit of the Industry Award from theNational Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) in 2023 for making films that "shatter the limits of what cinematic storytelling can achieve, maintaining a shared passion and commitment to the theatrical filmgoing experience that is unwavering and unparalleled".[65] John Fithian, former president of NATO, hailed the duo as "two champions of cinema" and said "no one has done more to advance the theatrical experience" than them.[65] At the same time as Nolan was knighted, Thomas was appointedDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to film.[66][67][68][69]
^Thomas believes thatDunkirk's production budget was around the same asInterstellar's—$165 million.[40] Conflicting reports suggest that the film's budget was between $120 million to $150 million.[41][42]
^Indicates the year of ceremony. Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
^Phipps, Keith; Robinson, Tasha; Rabin, Nathan; Tobias, Scott; Murray, Noel (3 December 2009)."The best films of the '00s".The A.V. Club.Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved27 November 2019.
^Staff (May 2017)."Production and Financing".Film Facts and Figures of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Film Fund. p. 11.Archived from the original on 16 May 2018 – viaissuu.
