Syncopy Inc.

Syncopy Inc.^[1] is a British-American film production company founded and operated by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan. 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]

Syncopy Inc.

Company type	Privately held company
Industry	Motion picture
Founded	27 February 2001
Founders	Emma Thomas Christopher Nolan
Headquarters	London Los Angeles
Owners	Emma Thomas Christopher Nolan
Number of employees	4 (2018)

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] Later on 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. It was 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] and his first Best Picture and Best Director Oscar win at the 96th Academy Awards.^[13]

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Co-production company	Distributor	Box office	Ref.
2005	Batman Begins	Christopher Nolan	Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment	Warner Bros. Pictures	$373 million	^[14]
2006	The Prestige		Touchstone Pictures, Newmarket Films	Warner Bros. Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures	$109 million	^[15]
2008	The Dark Knight		Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment	Warner Bros. Pictures	$1 billion	^[16]
2010	Inception		Legendary Pictures		$839 million	^[17]
2012	The Dark Knight Rises		Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment		$1.08 billion	^[18]
2013	Man of Steel	Zack Snyder	Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films		$668 million	^[19]
2014	Interstellar	Christopher Nolan	Legendary Pictures, Lynda Obst Productions	Warner Bros. Pictures, Paramount Pictures	$731 million	^[20]
2017	Dunkirk		RatPac-Dune Entertainment	Warner Bros. Pictures	$530 million	^[21]
2020	Tenet		—		$365 million	^[22]
2023	Oppenheimer		Atlas Entertainment	Universal Pictures	$960 million	^[23]
Box office total:					$6.6 billion	—

References

1. "Superior Court of The State of California for the County of Los Angeles" (PDF). The Hollywood Reporter. (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. from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
5. "SYNCOPY, INC, Beverly Hills CA - Company Profile | BizStanding". bizstanding.com. 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. 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. from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
8. . British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
9. "Meet the Woman Behind Dunkirk". Vanity Fair. 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. 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 wins his first Oscar for directing 'Oppenheimer'". AP News.
14. "Batman Begins (2005)". Box Office Mojo. from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
15. "The Prestige (2006)". Box Office Mojo. from the original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
16. "The Dark Knight (2008)". Box Office Mojo. from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
17. "Inception (2010)". Box Office Mojo. from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
18. "The Dark Knight Rises (2012)". Box Office Mojo. from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
19. "Man of Steel (2013)". Box Office Mojo. from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
20. "Interstellar (2014)". Box Office Mojo. 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. from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
23. "Oppenheimer". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 2 October 2023.

Further reading

• Shone, Tom (2020). The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan. Knopf. ISBN 978-05-256-5532-9.