Why Is Everyone Talking About ‘Interstellar’ All of a Sudden?

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar has once again become a popular topic of conversation online, leading some to ask strange questions—like “will there be an Interstellar 2?” Frankly, if you’re asking that question, I don’t think you’ve watched Interstellar. Because when you see a movie that explores loss and grief, and how to process all of that in the midst of the world breaking around you, it’s easy to understand why the movie doesn’t have a sequel.

But also, as the Joker once said, we live in a society.

Still, these questions seem to exist for a reason. So why are questions like “will there be an Interstellar 2?” popping up? Why are people asking this question? Part of the reason seems to be because the movie was re-released in IMAX in China, which has renewed excitement for the Nolan masterpiece. That still doesn’t explain why a movie that is designed as a singular film with a beginning, middle, and end would inspire this question.

Only one Nolan project was “designed” to have a continued story: his Batman trilogy, obviously. Other than that, Nolan’s movies are not meant to leave us wondering if they’ll be continued. If this sounds mean, it is because I just find this question to be rather hurtful as someone who found solace in Interstellar after watching it while coping with the death of my own father. I’d give anything to find the memory of my dad in the dust from the records he left me. Maybe people just really want to see Matthew McConaughey and Timothée Chalamet in another Christopher Nolan movie with Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain? I mean, same, but…

Stop asking about Christopher Nolan sequels

Sequel culture has broken cinema. Mainly because sequels are often forced onto movies that don’t need them, and filmmakers are always being asked if their latest movie will have one. Why would you want a movie about crops dying, the world ending, and dead dads to have a sequel? I’m sure people asked this about Inception—a movie that ends ambiguously and allows for different interpretations of the ending—because seemingly no one can leave anything up to their own imagination in the year of our lord 2023. But Nolan doesn’t really do sequels outside of the Dark Knight trilogy. Which isn’t to say that he never would, but sequels haven’t really been his thing.

Asking if we’ll get a sequel to Interstellar just tells me that you didn’t really pay attention to that movie. If that makes me sound like I am a jerk, that’s fine. I think it is silly to watch a movie that is so emotionally charged and tied to something as heartbreaking as the death of a parent, and then ask about whether or not you’ll get a sequel. It suggests that you didn’t really understand the story and how it was being told, and that you just want to be entertained. And that’s fine! But not every movie needs a sequel.

So to answer your question: No. There will not be a sequel to Interstellar.

(featured image: Warner Bros.)