Sometimes, we look up to the sky and wonder what’s behind the gigantic universe we live in. There’s no denying that the outer space holds some of the deepest secrets, especially with “black hole” being one of the strangest yet most fascinating worm hole ever discovered by humans. Various explanations and theories regarding the black hole were presented to us but truth about the black hole formation is lost.
Thus, critically-acclaimed director Christopher Nolan (of “Inception” and “The Dark Knight” fame) is set to take us back to the basic idea behind the universe through his upcoming sci-fi film, “Interstellar”. He might not have a hand in the upcoming “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” flick but there are always things to look forward to when it comes to Christopher Nolan’s films, especially when his brother Jonathan Nolan is working on it too.
With their combined talents, “Interstellar” will take us deeper into a new mysterious wormhole and give us a good look at what appears to be another beautiful planet, amongst its otherworldly shots. It is a film that revolves around the limitations of human space travel and other things that we have yet to discover in the outer space.
The reason why we say there’s a sky full of “stars” in the film is mainly because of these fun facts that sheds some light on the film:
1. Iceland, a perfect filming location for sci-fi films
Every epic sci-fi or fantasy film we’ve ever watched takes place at one of the most beautiful countries in the world, Iceland. From Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” to Bryan Singer’s “Star Trek: Into the Darkness” to Joseph Kosinski’s “Oblivion”, Iceland has inevitably become the perfect filming location as filmmakers are free to create a fictional scene, be it a deserted planet with volcanic terrain and black sand or the hardcore training location for a superhero film (read: Nolan’s “Batman Begins”).
For “Interstellar”, Nolan also shot a great portion in the nordic country after filming the rest of the scenes in Fort Macleod, Alberta. It was reported that the whole production team were in Iceland for a 4-month shoot while “Goodwill Hunting Star” star Matt Damon was there for 2 weeks for his scenes.
2. New wormhole, new hope?
You already have a basic idea that the film is about traveling into the wormhole but just how much do you know about it? Sci-fi film fans and heck, even Marvel fans would have a gist of how it works because the space wormhole aka the Einstein–Rosen Bridge, is a hypothetical space portal that connects 2 distant locations.
But of course, Nolan wanted to make “Interstellar” an original film as it is about a group of scientists who are sent on a space mission to explore a newly discovered wormhole. With their exploration into the new worm hole, will it surpass the limitations on human space travel? On top of that, will the wormhole become a solution for humans to save themselves from the barren Earth? Is it just wishful thinking? That’s for us to find out!
3. A film inspired by the work of theoretical physicist, Kip Thorne
It is safe to say that “Interstellar” is going to be a great film with its interpretation about the wormhole and time-travel theories. Why, you ask? Because the film is inspired by the work of theoretical physicist, Kip Thorne and he’s executive producing the film too.
A longtime friend and colleague of Stephen Hawking, Thorne is particularly known for his contributions in gravitational physics and astrophysics. He is one of the leading experts on astrophysical implications of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Contrary to popular belief, he thinks that time travel is not associated with parallel dimensions at all, as it is almost impossible under the laws of physics.
However, he did mention that the wormhole could be a potential portal to time travel, which is how Nolan noticed that his theory is going to fit in just fine for the film.
4. Steven Spielberg was originally attached to direct the film that was first started in 2006
It took almost 8 years to produce “Interstellar” as the film began development in June 2006 with world renowned director, Steven Spielberg attached to direct the film. Spielberg was working with Paramount Pictures, Lynda Obst and Kip Thorne to produce the film while Jonathan Nolan was hired to write the screenplay. At that time, Nolan was working on the award-winning film, “Inception” and the Batman trilogy.
However, Spielberg later moved his production company DreamWorks to The Walt Disney Company, causing Paramount to look for a new director of the film. This is where Jonathan Nolan stepped in as he recommended his brother to join the project. Christopher Nolan was initially attached to executive produce the film, until the announcement of his negotiations with Paramount and Warner Bros. to direct “Interstellar”. On March 2013, it was confirmed that Nolan will be directing the film under his label Syncopy and Lynda Obst Productions and it will be based on his ideas that were merged with his brother’s screenplay.
5. Hand-sculpted 46-foot-long spaceship for the film, influenced by Stabley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”
Believe it or not, the 46-foot-long spaceship was entirely built by the crew members! Yup, you heard that right, the production team designed the full-on practical spaceship sets after hours of watching IMAX documentaries on the International Space Station and looked at the Space Shuttle Endeavour! One of the biggest challenges they faced was having to transport the 10,000-pound spaceships to Iceland.
The Torus-shaped spacecraft is said to be inspired by the space station as seen in Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”. The spacecraft is a practical design as it can simulate Earth-like gravity with the help of circular motion. In fact, Nolan mentioned that the spaceship interior and exterior were all built on a large-scale practical set instead of being all computer generated. He even visited NASA and the private space program SpaceX as part of his research.
6. Nolan cast Matthew McConaughey based on his performance in “Mud”
Due to Matthew’s extraordinary performance in the coming-of-age drama-thriller film “Mud”, Nolan perhaps already had him in mind after meeting up with him in Los Angeles. The actor described they did not discuss about “Interstellar” at all; Nolan instead talked to him about some other films instead of the film they’re about to work on together. McConaughey said:
We go in his office and we talk for 3 hours. Not one word about the film, not what it was about. I came away knowing nothing else about the film. We talked about who we are as 43-year-old men, talked about who we are as (fathers), talked about our kids. We talked about some other films and work and just got really a sense of each other. And so when I walked out, I had a little bit of, OK, what was that?” I think he wanted to see who I was.
Nolan described that the actor is exactly what he wanted to be featured in his upcoming sci-fi film. He described to Variety that the actor “approaches a character from a deep human understanding” and “never lose sight of the demands of the overall narrative.”
7. A visual feast in “Interstellar”
“Interstellar” is set to offer a major visual feast to the audience as more than an hour of the film was shot with 70mm IMAX, 35mm, digital IMAX, 4K digital, and digital. Not only will the film take us back to the basic idea behind the wormhole, audience will be able to get the world’s most immersive movie experience at selected IMAX theatres around the world.
But what makes “Interstellar” different from the rest of the films, you ask? As most films shot with IMAX cameras usually consists of large and loud noises, Nolan was able to shoot “Interstellar” perfectly as the space helmets worn by the actors helped with insulating their microphones. Thus, the IMAX format is just perfect for “Interstellar” as the loud noises can fit into the action scenes too. The display images were recorded with better size and resolution as well.
8. Costume malfunction that nearly resulted in Hathaway getting hypothermia
Costume malfunction is the worst, but nothing is worse than suffering the costume malfunction in an extreme condition. “Interstellar” star Anne Hathaway experienced such incident as she nearly got hypothermia while the shooting for a scene in cold water.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hathaway described that at that time, she wasn’t sure if she could feel her toes after spending hours submerged in cold water.
I was feeling all sorts of weird flashes and things were getting a little hazy around the edges, and that’s when I turned to our first (assistant director), and I said, “Hey, I don’t know that much about hypothermia, but what are the symptoms?” And I explained what was going on, and he said, “Oh! Like, right now?” And I’m like, “Yeah!” And so then he went over to Chris (Nolan), and Chris was like, “OK — let’s roll, let’s roll, let’s roll right now!” And we were done shortly thereafter.
She revealed that the production team already tested her space suit a few months prior and it was not waterproofed the first time. When she went under and submerged, the water filled up her outer suit and she was stuck in the suit for hours. It even got to the point that the water was filled up to her shoulder! She revealed that she “didn’t want to hold up shooting” and only explained her situation when she can no longer feel her toes.
“Interstellar” is expected to hit cinemas on 7th November.
For more information, visit the movie’s official website.
