Steven Spielberg Spent a Year Developing INTERSTELLAR Before Handing It to Christopher Nolan

Before Christopher Nolan turned Interstallar into the ambitious sci-fi epic we know today, the film actually spent time in the hands of Steven Spielberg. According to Spielberg, he didn’t just casually consider it, he was deeply invested for a full year before stepping away and handing the reins over to Nolan.

Spielberg recently opened up about his time developing the project, and it sounds like he was fully immersed in the science and scope of the story.

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

It’s interesting that the project ultimately slipped through his fingers. During that time, Spielberg brought in Jonathan Nolan to shape the script, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become the film audiences saw in 2014.

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

That’s a pretty wild admission from one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, recognizing that the film ultimately benefited from Nolan’s vision,

When Interstellar hit theaters in 2014, it pulled in $681 million worldwide and picked up five Oscar nominations, winning for Best Visual Effects.

The film starred Matthew McConaughey as a NASA pilot tasked with finding a new home for humanity, alongside Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, and a young Timothée Chalamet.

Years later, Nolan reflected on how the project evolved from Spielberg’s version into his own during a screening conversation with Chalamet.

“Right after we collaborated on Dark Knight, my brother got the job and went to work with Steven. I get to call him Steven. He’s Mr. Spielberg to you. He worked on it for a lot of years.

“It had incredible ideas and moved through all these different iterations, but until Steven was ready to make it, whatever it is, it never quite got that momentum. Steven went off to do another film, so it became available.”

Nolan saw something in the material that lined up with ideas he’d already been exploring, especially around time and human connection.

“I had a lot of conversations with Jonathan over the years and what he was doing and what his ambition was. I was excited by it. I was incredibly struck by his first act. I had been working on a time travel idea… things looking at time.

“I had half-baked projects that I hadn’t committed to. When it became available, it was a case of me saying to Jonathan, ‘How would you feel if I took this and tried to combine it with some of my ideas and change a bit with what it was?’ He was fine with it. He could tell the spirit of what I was trying to do was to get to what he was initially excited about it.”

Even with Nolan at the helm, the film sparked mixed reactions. While many praised its ambition and scale, others felt its emotional core didn’t fully land. Ironically, that emotional storytelling is something Spielberg is known for, which makes this whole behind-the-scenes shuffle interesting.

Nolan addressed that perception, saying: “I had some producer anonymously say of me, ‘He is a cold guy who makes cold films.’ Then it sort of stuck on me for several projects.”

“The reason I was attracted to my brother’s first act is because it’s about family and humanity, and it’s deeply emotional. That’s the film I wanted to make. It’s a film that wears its heart on its sleeve.”

It’s hard not to imagine what Spielberg’s version of Interstellar might have looked like. Maybe it would’ve leaned harder into the emotional beats. Maybe it would’ve been something completely different.

Either way, the version we got still stands as one of Nolan’s most ambitious swings, and according to Spielberg himself, it ended up exactly where it needed to be.

Source: Variety