Interstellar's Original Ending Almost Made the Movie Really, Really Depressing

Find out why!

By Seija Rankin Mar 20, 2015 7:39 PMTags
Interstellar, Casey Affleck, Jessica ChastainParamount Pictures

Attention science nerds: This just-revealed original ending to Interstellar is going to make you very happy. For everyone else, well, it might make you really sad.

In honor of the movie's upcoming DVD release, screenwriter Jonathan Nolan (who wrote the first version of the script before brother Christopher took over) talked to a packed house at NASA's Jet Propulsion Labratory about the making of the film, and he revealed some never-before-heard details. According to Nerdist, Christopher Nolan made some big changes to the movie's ending before it began filming—and the original was, well, way more depressing.

As Interstellar fans will recall, the flick concluded (spoiler alert!) with McConaughey's Cooper entering the black hole, ending up in the fifth dimension, and using the otherworldly bookcase to communicate to his daughter. She figures out his clues, uses them to save the world, and everybody lives happily ever after...ish. It was all a wee bit hard to follow for most people, and some science purists argued that it was pretty implausible.

The original ending, which Jonathan revealed yesterday, was much more plausible, yet way sadder. Cooper still made it to the fifth dimension, but after he sends the data back in time, a wormhole collapsed, essentially trapping him. In other words, he completes the mission, but dies in the process. It's not exactly the happy father-daughter reunion that closed out the actual movie, but hey, that's science for ya!

As the story goes, Chris Nolan decided to swap out his brother's ending for one that, while less strict to the facts, offered audiences a more satisfying moment. Plus, he was worried that fans wouldn't be able to follow the complicated mathematical reasoning. And for that, we thank you, Chris.