Interstellar10 Years Later: Christopher Nolan Compares Film's Legacy toDark Knightin New Video (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Christopher NolanandEmma Thomasare reflecting onInterstellar10 years later.PEOPLE has an exclusive clip fromInterstellar’s new 10th-anniversary collector’s edition at-home release, in which Oscar-winners Nolan, 54, and Thomas, 52, look back on the 2014 film they made together.“The Dark Knighttrilogykind of had a very long shadow as it relates to Chris' career,” says Thomas, who married Nolan in 1997 and has produced each of his 12 films. “For me,Interstellaris a much more nakedly emotional film than his previous films. And I think that because it’s so personal, people didn’t really know what to do with it when it came out.“Interstellardebuted two years after Nolan’s final Batman movie,The Dark Knight Rises,hit theaters in 2012.Nolan and his frequent co-writer, brotherJonathan Nolan, combined two separate original story ideas to makeInterstellarafterSteven Spielbergstepped away from directing Jonathan’s script,Deadlinereported at the time.“If you say, ‘Why was the time right to doInterstellar?’ I don’t know if the timewasright. It was right for me,” Christopher says in the clip from “The Future Is Now: A Look Back.” “The film did well when it came out, but I don’t know if it particularly sparked the zeitgeist the way some of the other films I’ve made have.“Jessica Chastain in 2014’s Interstellar.Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/ShutterstockThe movie starredMatthew McConaugheyas Cooper, a former NASA test pilot living as a farmer on a futuristic Earth where life is increasingly threatened due to global famine in the 2060s.When Cooper learns NASA is still active and searching for a new planet for humanity to colonize, he joins scientist Amelia (Anne Hathaway) on a space mission in hopes of finding habitable planets in other galaxies, leaving his children (Mackenzie Foy andTimothée Chalamet) behind in the process.Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey on the set of Interstellar.Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/ShutterstockNever miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“I think withInterstellarwe were actually swimming upstream a little bit,” Christopher says in the video of making the film. “I did feel, my brother felt, all of us involved with the film felt that we were really trying to make a case for returning to an impulse to explore, to get out there at a time when that wasn’t happening.“Anne Hathaway Interstellar.Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/ShutterstockThe film’s story spans decades as Cooper’s mission takes him further and further into space while his kids grow up.Jessica ChastainandCasey Affleckportray his children as adults, whileMatt Damon,John Lithgow,Michael CaineandTopher Graceeach appear along the way as well.Interstellar’s 10th-anniversary collector’s edition box set is out Tuesday, Dec. 10, with 4K Ultra HD and Blu-Ray versions of the movie, as well as a third disc with over two hours of new and legacy bonus content. The limited-edition set also includes reproductions of five costume patches, five poster reproductions and a never-before-seen storyboard sequence from the director’s archives.

Christopher NolanandEmma Thomasare reflecting onInterstellar10 years later.

PEOPLE has an exclusive clip fromInterstellar’s new 10th-anniversary collector’s edition at-home release, in which Oscar-winners Nolan, 54, and Thomas, 52, look back on the 2014 film they made together.

“The Dark Knighttrilogykind of had a very long shadow as it relates to Chris' career,” says Thomas, who married Nolan in 1997 and has produced each of his 12 films. “For me,Interstellaris a much more nakedly emotional film than his previous films. And I think that because it’s so personal, people didn’t really know what to do with it when it came out.”

Interstellardebuted two years after Nolan’s final Batman movie,The Dark Knight Rises,hit theaters in 2012.

Nolan and his frequent co-writer, brotherJonathan Nolan, combined two separate original story ideas to makeInterstellarafterSteven Spielbergstepped away from directing Jonathan’s script,Deadlinereported at the time.

“If you say, ‘Why was the time right to doInterstellar?’ I don’t know if the timewasright. It was right for me,” Christopher says in the clip from “The Future Is Now: A Look Back.” “The film did well when it came out, but I don’t know if it particularly sparked the zeitgeist the way some of the other films I’ve made have.”

Jessica Chastain in 2014’s Interstellar.Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

The movie starredMatthew McConaugheyas Cooper, a former NASA test pilot living as a farmer on a futuristic Earth where life is increasingly threatened due to global famine in the 2060s.

When Cooper learns NASA is still active and searching for a new planet for humanity to colonize, he joins scientist Amelia (Anne Hathaway) on a space mission in hopes of finding habitable planets in other galaxies, leaving his children (Mackenzie Foy andTimothée Chalamet) behind in the process.

Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey on the set of Interstellar.Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“I think withInterstellarwe were actually swimming upstream a little bit,” Christopher says in the video of making the film. “I did feel, my brother felt, all of us involved with the film felt that we were really trying to make a case for returning to an impulse to explore, to get out there at a time when that wasn’t happening.”

Anne Hathaway Interstellar.Paramount/Warner Brothers/Kobal/Shutterstock

The film’s story spans decades as Cooper’s mission takes him further and further into space while his kids grow up.Jessica ChastainandCasey Affleckportray his children as adults, whileMatt Damon,John Lithgow,Michael CaineandTopher Graceeach appear along the way as well.

Interstellar’s 10th-anniversary collector’s edition box set is out Tuesday, Dec. 10, with 4K Ultra HD and Blu-Ray versions of the movie, as well as a third disc with over two hours of new and legacy bonus content. The limited-edition set also includes reproductions of five costume patches, five poster reproductions and a never-before-seen storyboard sequence from the director’s archives.

source: people.com