Christopher Nolan on plot holes, casting Affleck as Batman & directing Bond

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

When it comes to high-profile movies, fans and non-fans alike tend to pick apart the material looking for plot holes and other inconsistencies. While Christopher Nolan's films aren't impervious to plot holes (looking at you DARK KNIGHT RISES), Nolan himself feels that INTERSTELLAR is near bulletproof. Given that theoretical physicist Kip Thorne was on hand as executive producer, it seems most of the science was run by him. Anything else, well, Nolan is well aware of. He also discussed some other projects he's shown an interest in over the years.

Regarding plot holes in INTERSTELLAR:

To be honest, I haven’t read whatever holes people are trying to poke so I can speak to the validity of it. My films are always held to a weirdly high standard for those issues that isn’t applied to everybody else’s films—which I’m fine with. People are always accusing my films of having plot holes, and I’m very aware of the plot holes in my films and very aware of when people spot them, but they generally don’t. There have been a bunch of knee-jerk tweets by people who’ve only seen the film once, but to really take on the science of the film, you’re going to need to sit down with the film for a bit and probably also read Kip’s book. I know where we cheated in the way you have to cheat in movies, and I’ve made Kip aware of those things.

On Ben Affleck taking over for Christian Bale:

I’m only involved in that project in an advisory capacity as an executive producer, so I’m not involved in the day-to-day. When they told me that Ben was interested in doing it, I thought, “How thrilling!” This is the guy who just won Best Picture as a director and as an actor, and I thought it would be a great thing that he’d be willing to do this. I think the guy is incredibly talented and I’m very excited to see what Zack and Ben do together.

Regarding his Howard Hughes biopic:

I think it’s the best script I’ve ever written, and I had a really wonderful experience writing it. Yeah, it was a frustrating experience that the other movie (Martin Scorsese's THE AVIATOR) got going. Will I revisit it? I have no idea. I really don’t think about what I’m going to do next until I’m completely finished, and for the next couple of weeks I’m still all about Interstellar. I wouldn’t necessarily rule it out, but I wrote it a long time ago. Whether or not I want to revisit it I haven’t thought about. I usually dig out my old scripts in between movies and see if anything sparks there, and sometimes you get a chance to finish it, like INCEPTION, and sometimes you don’t.

If he's still considering doing a James Bond picture:

I love James Bond and I’ve talked with the producers over the years, but nothing’s ever worked out. They do a great job—they don’t need me right now, and Sam [Mendes] is an extraordinary talent. I will absolutely be first in line to see the next Bond film as I have been for all of them.

I wouldn't call the action choreography in any Nolan film particulary great, but what he does pull off are great concepts. With that in mind, I'd love to see him tackle a Bond picture in the future. He's obviously been keen on it for some time now and while I wouldn't usurp Mendes in the process, perhaps after this next Bond picture MGM could bring Nolan on board? Or would that be too awesome? Probably. Either way, whatever project Nolan chooses to develop, I think it's safe to say his fan base will follow.

INTERSTELLAR is now in theaters.