Christopher Nolan has always made ambitious movies, even before he got the budget to match his big ideas. But movies don’t get much bigger than Interstellar, the 2014 space travel sci-fi epic starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. The multi-generational saga managed to cement itself as an instant sci-fi classic and introduced a new generation to surprisingly accurate astrophysical phenomena.
Now, 10 years later, the film is set to make a return to theaters across the U.S. including in IMAX 70mm, despite rumors to the contrary. However, the release is still two months later than expected — but for a different reason entirely.
Interstellar’s Return to Theaters
Interstellar’s return to theaters for its 10th anniversary was first announced earlier this year, with showings both in Nolan’s preferred IMAX 70mm, the format that thousands flocked to see Nolan’s latest movie Oppenheimer in, and standard digital. The re-release was announced at CinemaCon and was scheduled for September 27, 2024, but that was the last that was heard of it.
Recently, the delay in the re-release was rumored to be caused by Paramount destroying the 70mm prints of the film, leading many to wonder if the movie would be released at all. The rumor isn’t completely unfounded. A story has circled online forums for decades claiming that in 1991, Paramount sent a memo to the archives ordering that excess copies of Days of Thunder be destroyed, but a misreading caused all the 70mm prints of Terence Malick’s Days of Heaven to be destroyed instead.
Why The Interstellar Re-Release is Delayed
Thankfully, a report from Variety revealed that the film prints were not destroyed. In fact, there are more copies of Interstellar in Paramount’s archives than other films — rather, it was the 10 years of wear and tear on the film stock could cause issues. Regardless, the re-release will still continue, just on December 7, more than two months later.
So if a lack of film stock isn’t the cause of the delay, then what is?
According to the report, the delay to December was actually purposeful, in order to align with the movie’s “home entertainment relaunch,” which presumedly means a 10th-anniversary edition physical release.
But despite the official statement, there’s already speculation that this may not be an issue of marketing synergy, but instead scheduling: September 27 is the release date of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, another epic movie from an esteemed director slated for an IMAX release.
Thankfully, the hubbub around this re-release can be chalked up to PR hijinks more than the accidental destruction of physical media. If there’s anything that Interstellar has taught us, it’s that in the right circumstances, eight more weeks to revisit this cinematic experience will feel far shorter.
