I’m being conservative when I say that half of the films that come out are available in 3D. So it’s weird when the biggest film of the year, The Dark Knight Rises, isn’t in 3D. But that’s because Chris Nolan has earned Warner Bros. so much money that he could take a shit on the desk of the studio head and nothing would happen to him.

He can easily tell Warner Bros. to go stuff themselves and to leave The Dark Knight Rises alone. Something Sam Raimi didn’t get to do with Spider-Man 3, by the way. Most filmmakers kind of go along with the 3D conversion as long as the studios don’t edit their film, while a small segment of Hollywood directors love 3D like it’s the new sound. That group includes James Cameron, Martin Scorsese and Peter Jackson.

Nolan doesn’t like 3D because he believes audiences don’t give a crap about 3D, and he’s largely right. Here’s what he had to say:

“The question of 3-D is a very straightforward one. I never meet anybody who actually likes the format, and it’s always a source of great concern to me when you’re charging a higher price for something that nobody seems to really say they have any great love for.

“It’s up to the audience to tell us how they want to watch the movies. More people go see these films in 2-D, and so it’s difficult data to interpret. And I certainly don’t want to shoot in a format just to charge people a higher ticket price.”

So, if you’re keeping track: David Fincher doesn’t like IMAX, Chris Nolan doesn’t like 3D, District 9 and Elysium director Neil Blomkamp doesn’t like 48 fps and Tim Burton doesn’t like normal things. Oh, the world of directors. [Salon via FilmDrunk]

christopher nolan, the dark knight rises