Christopher Nolan is a brand in himself. His films are guaranteed to be blockbusters because of the way he presents time, space, and even reality. From Memento to the upcoming Oppenheimer, the man is a master of his craft. But surely, he must be seeing other films simultaneously to draw inspiration for his own projects.
He possibly does, but when he is directing, he avoids seeing films made on similar topics. The director confessed that he avoided seeing a 2013 movie that got 10 Oscar nominations and won 7 of them, including Best Director, while he was making Interstellar.
Christopher Nolan Had No Interest In Seeing Gravity While Making Interstellar
Alfonso Cuaron’s 2013 space odyssey Gravity starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, grossed a neat $685 million at the box office and swept the most Oscars at the 2014 Academy Awards. Over the years, the film has been heavily compared to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. So did Nolan watch Gravity or draw some inspiration from it? Absolutely not.
In an interview with Time Out, the director of Dunkirk admitted that he didn’t see the film because he couldn’t watch a sci-fi movie while he was making one himself. Nolan said:
“I can’t watch another great sci-fi film while I’m trying to do my own thing. I’m looking forward to seeing it in a month or two. To me, I’m still making this film (Interstellar), and getting it out there is the last stage.”
But why didn’t he watch Gravity? It’s because he gets engrossed in the process of making a movie, and that makes it difficult for him to enjoy anything else. Nolan said:
“I go through a fallow period when I’m working. I can’t watch new films when I’m working. All I see is process. It falls apart on me. I’m okay watching old movies, but still everything becomes a bit mechanical. It’s very hard to enjoy a film when you’re constructing one.”
Interstellar, especially the story itself, was years in the making. But musician Hans Zimmer revealed that it was he who ultimately pushed the Tenet director to make it.
How Did Hans Zimmer Convince Christopher Nolan To Make Interstellar?
In an interview on the Reelblend podcast, Hans Zimmer revealed that Christopher Nolan had requested him to make the music of Interstellar before he had even finished writing the script. In fact, as per Zimmer, it was that music that finally convinced him to make the space film. He said:
“Chris asked me to write this piece of music before he’d even written the script. So I play it to him… and I got to the end of it and I said, ‘So what do you think?’ And he’s just leaning back and goes, ‘Hmm, suppose I better make the movie.’ And I’m going, ‘What is the movie?’ Because he never told me what it was going to be about.”
Whether not watching Gravity had a positive effect on Interstellar or not isn’t known, but Nolan’s 2014 film went on to take home $647 million at the box office. The film also got nominated for 5 Academy Awards in 2014 and took home one for Best Visual Effects. The film has also garnered a massive following worldwide. Many would say even more than Gravity.
Interstellar is on HBO Max, and Gravity is on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: Reelblend podcast and Time Out
