Christopher Nolan Nearly Adapted Ruth Rendell's The Keys to the Street

After Following, Memento, and Insomnia, Christopher Nolan adapted Ruth Rendell's 1996 novel The Keys to the Street into a screenplay and was briefly attached to direct the project for Fox Searchlight. The novel charts a series of murders of the unhoused in London and centers on a modest, reserved young woman who saves a stranger's life, setting off a chain of strange events.

Its bleak worldview and a jaded protagonist echoed themes Nolan had explored in his earlier neo-noirs and reminded viewers of characters such as Leonard Shelby and Will Dormer. Nolan ultimately left the adaptation unrealized and signed with Warner Bros. to direct Batman Begins, a move he made in part because he felt the Rendell material was too similar to his previous work.

Warner Bros. became his home base for the next 15 years and allowed him to pursue larger-scale projects.

United Kingdom, London

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