10 Years of Interstellar: 4 Surprising Facts About Christopher Nolan's Sci-Fi Masterpiece
Did you know that Interstellar and Man of Steel are connected?
Christopher Nolan 's sci-fi drama is 10 years old. Over the years, through numerous discussions, analytical articles, and noticeable changes in the genre, viewers have learned everything about the movie... well, almost everything.
We recap some more Interstellar trivia – a great way to pique your interest before rewatching.
1. Interstellar Could Have Been a Steven Spielberg Movie
During the production of Contact in 1997, the first sketches for Interstellar were created by physicist Kip Thorne, who served as a science advisor to the film. Steven Spielberg, who had always dreamed of making a movie about space travel, soon became interested in the idea – his track record had not included family science fiction films for a long time.
Screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, Christopher's brother, also joined the project and was tasked with reworking Thorne's scientific hypotheses. As a result, Spielberg withdrew from the project in 2009, leaving the director's position vacant.
2. Hans Zimmer Wrote the Score Without Knowing What the Movie Was About
Christopher Nolan approached his regular composer without any specific instructions about the title, genre, characters, or even the plot. All the director gave Zimmer was a small envelope containing a story about a father and son. The parent leaves on an unspecified work assignment, and the child asks to come back.
The line touched Zimmer so deeply and resonated with his personal experience that the composer came up with an epic musical theme – Nolan got his way and, having already listened to the soundtrack, revealed to his colleague details about space travel, separation from Earth, and the salvation of mankind.
3. Man of Steel and Interstellar Are Connected by Corn
Nolan is known for his love of analog filming and live textures. The grandiose cornfield for Interstellar is the best example of this. Long before working on the movie, Nolan consulted with Zack Snyder about how long it would take to grow a real cornfield – the director did not want to recreate it on a computer.
Snyder had worked on Man of Steel and planted such a field outside a Canadian town. His colleague's experience helped the British director – for Interstellar, they planted up to 500 acres in the same location where they had previously created the texture for the Superman comic book movie.
4. Interstellar Was Timothée Chalamet's First Role in a Big Movie
Interstellar was Timothée Chalamet's cinematic breakthrough. After missing two semesters at university, the young actor joined the project and played a cameo role – Cooper's son.
According to the actor himself, Interstellar remains Christopher Nolan's best work for him. And not at all because he personally participated in the filming. Chalamet was touched by Matthew McConaughey's character, and the emotional line of the father-son relationship made him cry.