Like many Christopher Nolan movies,Interstellarhas bred a dedicated fanbase who consider it not only the best movie of his filmography but one of the best movies period. So, of course, the idea ofInterstellar 2would please a large portion of moviegoers. Too bad for them,Nolan rarely does sequels. Except for that one time when he did it twice and may have accidentally ignited an eternity of superhero movies. But for the most part,Nolan’s filmography is filled with moviesthat finish their stories at the end of the runtime and leave little room for sequels.
His ideas are so massive and his visuals so spectacular that for something likeOppenheimerorTenetto finish with a hint there’s more to tell would almost be a disservice to the film that came before it. I don’t want to sit through 3 hours of terror and tension on the shores ofDunkirkonly for the movie to suggest it was just the appetizer for what comes next. Of course, there are plenty of sequels that don’t take anything away from the first movie, butNolan’s films don’t exactly leave the door wide open, except maybe in one case.
Interstellar Should Never Have A Sequel
Cooper Completed Humanity’s Goal At The End Of Interstellar
So back toInterstellar, and the occasional interest some online commenters seem to have inInterstellar 2. To put it bluntly, there’s no need for that.Interstellarcertainly isn’t my favorite of Nolan’s movies, but I still enjoy it quite a bit. The music, the visuals, its critical importance to theresurgence of Matthew McConaughey in Hollywood, the tension he creates as the team of astronauts grows more desperate to not only save the world but maybe see their families one last time. It’s fantastic. None of that meansInterstellar 2needs to be a thing.
10 Things I Learned Rewatching Interstellar 10 Years After Christopher Nolan’s Space Movie Came Out
Interstellar has just turned 10 years old, and here are 10 new things that I learned upon rewatching Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic in 2024.
They win at the end ofInterstellar. It’s over. The world was dying, there was no more food, and the hopes of humanity all rested on a former NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper (McConaughey). Traveling through space, time, and… emotions, maybe?The crew ofEndurancefinally finds a habitable planet for humanityto live on. Even if you don’t totally understandthe ending ofInterstellar, it’s clear that when Cooper returns from his trip, he has succeeded.
He’s managed to deliver the necessary equations to the past so that humanity can build space-faring colonies, and with Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) on a new planet fit for humans,the future is looking bright after decades of literal darkness beneath crop-killing dust storms. There’s not much more to figure out that would requireInterstellar 2. Cooper sets out to find Brand at the end of the film, but that’s not so much a rescue mission as it is being the second ship to land on Plymouth Rock.
What’s more, Cooper has not aged at the end ofInterstellar, while everyone save Brand is either nearing the end of their lives or has already passed away. There aren’t even old charactersInterstellar 2could bring back. They would all basically have to be new people. I guess we could focus on Cooper’s large extended family shown at the end ofInterstellar. I don’t know,The Family Stoneset on the planet Edmunds, or something. “TARS, reduce humor setting to 65%.”
Interstellar 2 Likely Will Not Happen Because The Story Is Complete
Christopher Nolan Rarely Does Sequels
Interstellarhas a 73% onRotten Tomatoes, earned $726 million at the box office (viaBoxOfficeMojo), and went 1 for 5 at the Academy Awards and 0 for 1 at the Golden Globes.It’s the type of movie that movie studio execs would kill to make a sequel for, but not every sequel is created equally and plenty ofsequels completely miss the point of the original movie. You can bet that unless the utmost care was put into makingInterstellar 2and Nolan was attached, the sequel would learn all the wrong lessons from the first film.
Interstellaris certainly a science fiction thrill ride at certain points, but that is not at all the whole story of the film.
Interstellaris certainly a science fiction thrill ride at certain points, but that is not at all the whole story of the film. There’s a good possibility that a sequel, especially if it’s done without Nolan, would only remember the ocean planet scene and the docking sequence and make the whole movie set piece after set piece with no emotion in between. It would be a debacle. Nolan is not the type of director to bow down to public pressure about returning to a story that’s already over. He has other things to do than travel back in time.
If Another Christopher Nolan Movie Gets A Sequel, It Should Be The Prestige
However, if, and that “if” is doing a lot of work, Christopher Nolan does decide he wants to do a sequel, I think there’s only one movie he could choose that would be appropriate; his 2006 psychological thrillerThe Prestige. Sandwiched between the releases ofBatman BeginsandThe Dark Knight,The Prestigeis a slightly forgotten entry in the vaunted Nolan library. The film stars Hugh Jackman as “The Great Danton” and Christian Bale as “The Professor”, two 19th-century magicians who will do anything to one-up the other on stage.
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Filled with twists and turns,The Prestigeis not worth spoiling and every scene has something that rewards paying close attention. It’s a thrilling movie about stagecraft, obsession, and the nature of being, butit avoids two Nolan signatures that make it a possible contender for a sequel. For one, there are no mind-blowing set pieces that need to be topped in a sequel. There are only expertly crafted small moments that build to a more intriguing whole, which is a less daunting task for a sequel to try and replicate than something like a hallway turning upside down.
Christopher Nolan is the executive producer for Zack Snyder’s DCEU movies, so it seems he’s only interested in superhero sequels.
Second,The Prestigedoesn’t end with much of a victory like many of Nolan’s other movies where the heroes succeed in their heist, escape, or revenge. There’s a real sense of unfinished business inThe Prestige, even at the end, which sees one small moment of happiness. The mad search for fame and to be the best has not ended for either man, they’ve simply both lost. A sequel could continue to explore those dark human emotions about the quest for success.
“The Professor”’s daughter ends up surviving at the end ofThe Prestige, as does Michael Caine’s character, who acts as a mentor to the magicians.ThePrestige 2could be about a new generation of magicians who have still not learned from the sins of their fathersand throw away love and even life in the pursuit of trying to create real magic.
I don’t thinkInterstellar 2orThe Prestige 2are really in the cards at this point, not while Nolan appears to have no lack of movie ideas. But who knows, Nolan’s made the impossible possible onscreen. Maybe he decides that the biggest way to blow his audiences' minds is to come out with a sequel.
Interstellar
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From Christopher Nolan, Interstellar imagines a future where the Earth is plagued by a life-threatening famine, and a small team of astronauts is sent out to find a new prospective home among the stars. Despite putting the mission first, Coop (Matthew McConaughey) races against time to return home to his family even as they work to save mankind back on Earth.
