Steven Spielberg Reveals Why He Didn’t Direct Interstellar

Before Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar sent audiences hurtling through a wormhole near Saturn, the project belonged to another Hollywood titan. For years, fans speculated about what a Steven Spielberg version of the film might have looked like. Now, the iconic director has finally opened up about the year he spent developing the science-fiction epic and the specific reason he ultimately walked away from the director’s chair.

Steven Spielberg explains why he decided to drop out of Interstellar

Steven Spielberg’s attachment to Interstellar dates back to its earliest origins. The project that came on his desk was not a finished screenplay. Rather, it was a scientific concept brought to him by theoretical physicist Kip S. Thorne and producer Lynda Obst.

“I was involved with Interstellar for a year,” Steven Spielberg confirmed to Empire. To translate Thorne’s complex treatment into a narrative, Steven Spielberg hired a writer: Jonathan Nolan. He commissioned him to write the first and second drafts. However, despite the promising material and the heavy scientific backing, the vision never quite locked into place for the director (via Gamesradar)

“It didn’t stick,” Steven Spielberg admitted about the development process. In a twist of fate that would define the film’s legacy, Jonathan Nolan offered a prophetic warning about his own brother’s interest. “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.’”

That prediction proved remarkably accurate. “Interstellar was a much better movie in Chris Nolan’s hands than it would have been in mine,” Spielberg stated. Christopher Nolan sought to merge his brother Jonathan’s existing script, which already contained a strong first act and ending, with his own unfinished concepts about time and relativity before making the 2014 film.