Christopher Nolan’s films have a very special aesthetic. Although he works in genres where a lot of computer-generated imagery is the norm, he values location shooting, practically staged action and, of course, the kind of rich, tangible images that only film – not digital – can give you (with a roll length of 11 miles). There’s a reason many movie lovers travel long distances to see his films projected on 70mm IMAX and never leave disappointed.
Nolan’s aesthetic preferences were challenged like never before when he took on Interstellar. The space exploration film, based on the brilliant work of astrophysicist Kip Thorne, promised to be a clever piece of science fiction in the style of classics like “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Solaris” (by Tarkovsky or Soderbergh). . “Interstellar” ended up occasionally evoking those films, but it was actually Nolan’s unique attempt to realistically portray what it would look and feel like to be stuck in a tesseract. It’s overwhelming, and in order to convince us of his big leaps, Nolan first had to immerse us in a version of near-future Earth that felt lived in.
To achieve this, Nolan sought out… Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel?”
Old Chris Nolan had a farm
In an interview with The Daily BeastNolan revealed that he turned to Snyder, who had to build one himself while filming the Nolan-produced Man of Steel, to help him build a realistically functioning farm. Nolan explained his thought process this way:
“That all-American iconography has always been so strong in the Superman mythos. It was in the script (of “Interstellar”) before I came on the project – (Chrisotpher’s brother Jonathan Nolan) originally developed the script that Steven Spielberg was going to direct – and I think the Americana came through there as I realized we had to grow our own corn.
Nolan discovered that Snyder had planted 300 acres of corn to give the Kent homestead the feel of a working farm. Say what you will about the film (I’m a fan), but these sweeping cornfield shots evoke the same kind of deep awe that Richard Donner conveyed in 1978’s Superman. So Nolan set about sowing and ended up with a record harvest. As he told The Daily Beast, “We grew about 500 acres of corn, actually sold it, and ended up making a profit on it.”
So add that profit to what Paramount made when “Interstellar” grossed $727 million on a $165 million budget (including the 2024 re-release). And let this be a lesson learned by aspiring filmmakers. If you want to make a profit from your film, place it on a farm.
