Earlier today, AMBI Pictures announced it would be remaking Memento, Nolan’s breakout film that follows a man with memory loss who attempts to track down his wife’s killer. AMBI acquired the remake rights to the film when it bought Exclusive Media Group. Nolan’s involvement in the project is not mentioned in the release, which means he almost certainly isn’t involved.
Memento is most notable for its structure—part of it is told in reverse—but it’s unclear if the remake will follow the same template. It probably will, because Memento’s gimmicky structure is its raison d’etre: the resulting obfuscation covers for a plot that doesn’t make sense and gives the appearance of ambiguity and nuance to a film that sorely lacks both. This remake is almost certainly being made because remakes and established brands perform better than unique projects, but I have hope. FX’s Fargo is better than the Coen Brothers’ Fargo (which, unlike Memento, is a masterpiece) and it’s possible that AMBI’s Memento will be better than Nolan’s—at the very least it should be more coherent. Also, Guy Pearce’s hair was awful in the original.
The Prestige is Christopher Nolan’s best film.