Christopher Nolan Crashes Real 747 Plane in 'TENET'
It was cheaper than CGI.
Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming time-bending espionage film TENET has garnered much momentum and anticipation recently, partly thanks to its trailer debut on the massive battle royale game Fortnite, but now the movie is building up to be something truly epic. Nolan revealed that instead of using a combination of miniatures and CGI effects to film a plane crash scene, he actually went out and bought a real Boeing 747 and crashed it on set.
The director revealed his rationale for the decision during an interview with Total Film. “I planned to do it using miniatures and set-piece builds and a combination of visual effects and all the rest,” Nolan said. “We started to run the numbers… It became apparent that it would actually be more efficient to buy a real plane of the real size, and perform this sequence for real in camera, rather than build miniatures or go the CG route.” He added: “It’s a strange thing to talk about – a kind of impulse buying, I suppose. But we kind of did, and it worked very well…It was a very exciting thing to be a part of.”
One of the film’s main stars Robert Pattinson also recounted the experience: “You wouldn’t have thought there was any reality where you would be doing a scene where they just have an actual 747 to blow up! It’s so bold to the point of ridiculousness… I remember, as we were shooting it, I was thinking, ‘How many more times is this even going to be happening in a film at all?’”
TENET is currently scheduled to release in theaters July 17.
In other entertainment news, most of Studio Ghibli’s films are now available on HBO Max.