Spielberg: I Was Going To Do “Interstellar”

Master filmmaker Steven Spielberg has revealed that he was attached to direct “Interstellar” for around about a year, ultimately dropping off the project before it was handed to Christopher Nolan who ended up making and releasing it in 2014.

Speaking with Empire (via Total Film) during the first press for “Disclosure Day,” Spielberg confirms he did a decent bit of work on the film which he was brought onto by producer Lynda Obst and astrophysicist Kip Thorne:

“I was involved with ‘Interstellar’ for a year… and I became fascinated with it. I spent a lot of time at the [Jet Propulsion Laboratory] in Pasadena, California, talking to the scientists there and the aerospace engineers.”

In fact, Spielberg brought in Nolan’s brother and “Westworld” creator Jonathan Nolan to write the early drafts of the script. After a few drafts, he realised it wasn’t for him:

“I actually hired Chris Nolan’s brother [Jonathan] to write the first and second draft for me, but it didn’t stick. 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.”

Chris Nolan himself previously teased the Spielberg connection earlier this year during a talk with Timothee Chalamet, saying his brother got the gig right after they collaborated on “The Dark Knight” films and Chris climb onboard when Spielberg went off to do another film.

“Interstellar” opened in theaters in November 2014 and grossed $681 million worldwide during its initial run and scored five Oscar nominations.