Summary

Christopher Nolanis rumored to be working on a big - budget movie adaptation ofThe Prisoner , but a TV cataclysm from 15 age ago proves it ’ll be a challenge to bring this story to the big concealment . The Prisoneris a dreamlike , short - lived furor classic British sci - fi serial from the sixties about a private agent stranded on a mystifying island . After winning Best Picture and Best Director forOppenheimerat the Oscars , Nolan has the freedom to make whatever motion picture he wants – but this particular project would be tough to pull off .

Nolan has been reportedly interested in pull in a movie version ofThe Prisoneras far back as 2009 ( and in the meanwhile , Ridley Scott was in talk to take over the movie version of the serial publication ) . Now thatOppenheimer ’s Oscars successhas solidified his position as the most venerable theatre director in Hollywood , he has a just chance than ever of start the project off the ground . But a fatal attempt to rebootThe Prisonerover a 10 ago proves that revamp this serial will be a lot easier said than done .

The Prisoner Was Remade In 2009 - And Failed

There was an attempt to remakeThe Prisoneras a six - part miniseries in 2009 . The reboot was a co - production between the British television channel ITV and the American cable electronic web AMC . Like the original , the remaking revolved around a undercover agent waking up in a unknown picaresque settlement from which he could n’t scat . The miniseries starredThe Passion of the Christ ’s Jim Caviezelin the lead function of Number Six alongside a scene - stealing , Emmy - nominated Ian McKellen as Number Two ( a office that switched hired hand between various node stars in the original show ) .

The miniseries ’ reinvent resolution of the mystery felt like a let - down after all the build - up .

The remaking ofThe Prisonerreceived mixed reviews on its dismission in 2009 , with most critics complaining thatit was nowhere near as weirdly captivating as the original serial . The visuals were n’t as bizarre as the original ; they were frustratingly tame by comparison . Plus , the miniseries ’ reinvented resolution of the enigma felt like a get - down after all the build - up . The critical response was n’t 100 % negative , but it was n’t even close to a positive enough receipt to be worth remake a classic and tarnishing its legacy . This does n’t bode well for a potential movie adaptation , even with Nolan at the helm .

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Making The Prisoner Work In A Modern Remake Would Be Nolan’s Biggest Challenge

If Nolan does make a movie version ofThe Prisoner , the biggest challenge would be updating it for a modernistic consultation ( and possibly a mod setting ) . Nolan ’s pic would obviously be in force than the TV remaking – that ’s a feed – butwhetherThe Prisonerfundamentally works as anything other than a cult ‘ LX show with a miniscule budget is the crowing question . Not everything is become to the big - budget picture treatment . The Prisonermight be one of those story that lose its someone when the production value gets too overweening .

The advanced earthly concern , with all its cell telephone and the availableness of the internet , is n’t suited to this kind of enigma plot line . Today , with all the convenient technology at humanity ’s administration , it would be a lot easier for Number Six to figure out where he is and why he ’s there . The strange and offbeat original series was the perfect level for the paranoid ‘ 60s , but it might not land today .

The original adaptation ofThe Prisonerran for 17 episodes from September 1967 to February 1968 .

A collage image of Luke Skywalker in A New Hope

Why A Christopher Nolan Prisoner Movie Is Still Exciting

Whether or not Nolan can turn a picture show adaptation ofThe Prisonerinto the nextOppenheimer , or whether or notThe Prisoneris even suited to the big - screen treatment , a Nolan - helmedPrisonermovieis still a really exciting vista . For starter , the premise and tone of the series are right on up Nolan ’s back street . InThe Prisoner , much like in Nolan ’s most iconic films , nothing makes horse sense and nobody explain anything . It just drops its audience right into the midst of the mystery and leaves them to calculate it out for themselves , which is classical Nolan .

Nolan is such a bright director that he never make a truly bad movie . Even Nolan ’s most dissatisfactory and overambitious films , likeTenetandInterstellar , are still a mesmerize cinematic experience . Tenetis a baffling mess that have too much mental gymnastics to explicate fourth dimension - traveling heater , whileInterstellaris a clunky mixture of Kubrickian coldness and Spielbergian mush , but they both still have plenty of head - bend set - pieces and breathtaking imagery in spades . WhateverChristopher Nolandoes withThe Prisoner , it would be something special .

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Collage of Number Six in The Prisoner and Christopher Nolan with an IMAX camera

Patrick McGoohan followed by the giant orb in The Prisoner

Christopher Nolan seated next to an IMAX camera during the filming of one of his movies