Christopher Nolan's come far, fast

July 20, 2008 Less than 10 years ago, Christopher Nolan had barely made his debut, directing a small indie called "Following," a fractured thriller about a writer who inexplicably follows strangers. Spike Lee had Inside Man in 2005, and 1970's auteurs like Martin Scorsese later had studio blockbusters like Cape Fear and the Departed, to take two examples. Nolan (together with his brother and frequent writing partner Jonathan) pulled it off in less than a decade, jumping from indies to midrange studio projects like Warners' Alaskan murder mystery "Insomnia," which earned nearly $70 million, and Disney's "The Prestige," which landed $53 million, to the wildly profitable Batman reboot.

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