Christopher Nolan Regretted Reading Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ Script Before Watching It

Imagine you have the chance to read the script for Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming movie, The Odyssey. No questions asked, you just have it in your hands, and that’s it. Would you do it? Because the man himself once did it, but with another movie. Nolan is known for being extremely secretive about his own movies before they come out and for being a fierce advocate of the theatrical experience when it comes to releasing them, too, but he is also only human. So, when he had the opportunity to read the script for Pulp Fiction before it was released, he took it. And it completely ruined his relationship with the Quentin Tarantino masterpiece.

Christopher Nolan Regretted Reading the ‘Pulp Fiction’ Script Before Watching It

Nowadays, Nolan may be on every list of Hollywood’s best directors, but, like most people, he actually started from the bottom. In the early 1990s, he was still working his way up the film industry ladder, working as an intern at a film company, and that’s when he came across the script for Pulp Fiction. He was a huge fan of Tarantino’s previous movie, 1992’s Reservoir Dogs, so the chance to read the script for his next movie before it came out in 1994 was golden, right? Well, not really. As Nolan tells NYT, it actually ruined the experience of watching the movie on the big screen: “I read the script for Pulp Fiction before I saw the movie, and I always regretted it. I’m a huge Reservoir Dogs fan, I was really excited to see [Tarantino‘s] next film.” In the end, though, it proved to be a mistake, because, as he points out, “Reading the script wasn’t the same as seeing the film. And then seeing the film, having read the script, wasn’t the same as seeing the film.”

As genius as the Pulp Fiction script is, much of what makes it a masterpiece is also Tarantino’s directing, and this is the kind of experience one can only get by really watching the movie. “It’s like you want to open your presents before Christmas, and then if you do, you regret it.” Maybe you get the satisfaction of knowing what the movie is about, who the characters are, and what happens in the story, and reading Tarantino’s script is always a masterclass, just not before watching his movies—or any other movie, for that matter.

Nolan Is Very Secretive With His Own Films Before They Are Released

The Odyssey being announced as Nolan’s next upcoming film was a surprise, given the epic and fantastical nature of the original story. It’s something he has never done before, which makes us really curious about what it’s going to look and feel like. So far, we’ve only gotten an official look at Matt Damon as Odysseus, but, given how secretive Nolan is about his productions, it’s highly unlikely we’ll get much more than that until a trailer comes out. So, it’s interesting to learn about Nolan’s own misadventures with the Pulp Fiction script, because he was once himself so eager to know about a movie, he ruined the experience of actually watching it.

“What I’ve realized over the years is I want to know the movie, and then as soon as I know it, I wish I didn’t,” he says. This may even hint at why he is so secretive about his own work, for example. Going back to the Christmas gifts metaphor, he explains that “We try to hide the presents up in the top of the closet where people can’t get at it.” “An original concept—a world the audience hasn’t entered into before—for me as a filmgoer, that’s the most exciting thing.” So don’t go opening your Christmas gifts before it’s time, okay?

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This rationale also works for adaptations, too. The Odyssey, for example, is not an original story, but the original concept lies in the filmmaker’s own interpretation, and Nolan’s takes on pre-existing works are usually as unique as his original concepts—just look at The Dark Knight and Oppenheimer. Reading Homer‘s original epic poem won’t spoil anything for those who are too curious (it’s been around for over two thousand years, so it’s definitely not a spoiler), because what matters now is what Nolan will do with it on the big screen, not what Homer did millennia ago.

Nolan Also Defends Experiencing a Film in Theaters, Where They Belong

Nolan’s experience with the script of Pulp Fiction also ties to another of his traits as a filmmaker. He is known to be a fierce advocate of the theatrical experience and always says that his movies are made to be watched in theaters on the big screen. Regardless of whether he had already developed a filmmaker’s artistic sensibility when he read the Pulp Fiction script, watching a movie like that in the theater is a whole different experience, and it doesn’t compare to only reading a script, however good that said script may be. Even after the pandemic, for example, he made sure Tenet got an exclusively theatrical release. This is something Tarantino himself, who wrote that script, also stands for, so there is no arguing against it. If you can, watch a movie in theaters knowing as little as possible about it, or risk having your experience ruined like Nolan’s was with Pulp Fiction.

Pulp Fiction

Release Date

October 14, 1994

Runtime

154 minutes