Preparations for filming Christopher Nolan's new wormhole-oriented science fiction movie Interstellar have already begun in Alberta, Canada, and the cameras are set to begin rolling some time this summer. With a screenplay written by the director's brother, Jonah Nolan, which was later rewritten to include C. Nolan's own original ideas, Interstellar is based on the works of famed theoretical physicist Kip Thorne and his ideas about the potential practicalities of wormhole travel, making it a highly appealing project for science geeks.
Co-financed and produced by Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., Interstellar has picked up cast members steadily, with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway recruited to play the lead roles quite early on, and Nolan later picking up Casey Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin and Nolan's old favorite, Michael Caine, to round out the team.
Now The Wrap has announced three new casting updates for Interstellar, the most interesting of which is the news that Ellen Burstyn, who has received six Oscar nominations over the course of her career, and won the Best Leading Actress award in 1975 for her performance in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Burstyn recently worked with young actress Mackenzie Foy (who played Renesmee, the awkwardly-named child of Edward and Bella, in Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2) on Darnell Martin's indie drama Wish You Well, and the pair are now set to reunite onscreen, as Nolan has also cast Foy in a role for Interstellar.
The other new addition to the cast is Homeland star Timothée Chalamet. The teen actor was more or less unknown prior to his role as Finn Walden, son of Vice President William Walden, in the Showtime series, and as the second younger name to be revealed this week, it will be interesting to see what kind of part he plays in Interstellar. Perhaps he and Foy will be family members of the team who are sent through the wormhole.
[UPDATE: The Wrap has just revealed that John Lithgow has also joined the cast of Interstellar. No details on the role he'll be playing, but we're guessing he's the High Commander.]
Casting and talent news has occupied almost all of the updates about Interstellar so far, since Nolan has been customarily cagey about plot details. AICN recently claimed to have read a leaked draft of the script, however, and released a few scant details about what it includes (which seem to be genuine, considering the studio quickly demanded that they be taken down).
In that draft of the script, the story was set in a future version of Earth where the global economy has completely broken down, along with many of the world's governments. A rip in time and space occurs, and the last remaining dregs of NASA organize a mission to investigate it and try and find salvation for mankind.
This sounds like a decent set-up through which to explore the science at the heart of the movie, even if dystopian future settings are starting to become a little wrung-out at the moment, and coincidentally bears quite a few similarities to the storyline of this summer's action sci-fi Pacific Rim. The actual plot of the film is apparently a little more complicated than it sounds, so expect to be surprised when it finally hit theaters.
_____
Interstellar is currently set for release on November 7, 2014.
Source: The Wrap