Steven Spielberg Reveals He Worked on Interstellar For One Year
He was replaced by Christopher Nolan, who released the film in 2014.
Steven Spielberg is currently on the press tour for his upcoming film Disclosure Day, but that hasn’t stopped the Oscar-winning director from reminiscing on a past project that didn’t quite work out for him.
Speaking to Empire magazine (via Total Film), Spielberg reveals that he was attached to direct Interstellar for one year before dropping out and being replaced by Christopher Nolan. He says he was brought onto the project by producer Lynda Obst and astrophysicist Kip Thorne (the film’s scientific consultant).
“I was involved with ‘Interstellar’ for a year… and I became fascinated with it,” Spielberg says. “I spent a lot of time at the [Jet Propulsion Laboratory] in Pasadena, California, talking to the scientists there and the aerospace engineers.”
The celebrated filmmaker adds that he actually hired Nolan’s brother, Westworld creator Jonathan Nolan, to write early drafts of the script, but it ultimately didn’t work out.
“I actually hired Chris Nolan’s brother [Jonathan] to write the first and second drafts for me, but it didn’t stick,” Spielberg shares. “Jonah actually said, ‘If there comes a point where you decide not to make this movie, I can tell you who’s gonna grab it. He’s already bugging me about it. And that’s my brother Chris.’ He was absolutely right. The second I decided not to make it, Chris jumped on board, probably the next day. ‘Interstellar’ was a much better movie in Chris Nolan’s hands than it would have been in mine.”
Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar was released in cinemas in November 2014 and initially grossed $681 million worldwide. It also scored five Oscar nominations, winning for Best Visual Effects.
Looking ahead, Steven Spielberg returns this summer with the sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day. Much of the film’s story is under wraps, but Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor lead the star-studded cast that also includes Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, and Wyatt Russell.
Disclosure Day arrives in UK cinemas on June 12th.
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