This piece revisits how Christopher Nolan won the job directing 2002's Insomnia, the studio remake of a 1997 Norwegian neo-noir, and how that project became his springboard into working with major Hollywood stars. Before Memento's success in 2000, Nolan couldn't even secure a meeting with Warner Bros about the film, despite wanting to direct it himself; it was only after Steven Soderbergh saw Memento and championed him that the studio agreed.

Soderbergh, then riding high on Out of Sight, offered to executive produce Insomnia alongside George Clooney on condition that Nolan direct, giving the young filmmaker his route into a studio production. The resulting film starred Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank, nearly tripled its $46million budget at the box office, and earned strong reviews, including praise from the original Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjærg. Nolan has since called Soderbergh's support essential, saying "everybody needs that somebody who just takes a risk," and considers Insomnia among his most underrated films.