Zack Snyder helped Christopher Nolan with one special aspect of Interstellar

Christopher Nolan movies You have a very special aesthetic. Although he works in genres where large amounts of computer-generated imagery is the norm, he appreciates location shooting, practically theatrical action, and of course the kind of rich, tangible visuals that only film — not digital — can give you. (The reel is 11 miles long). There’s a reason why many cinephiles travel long distances to see his films projected on a 70mm IMAX screen, and never walk away disappointed.

Nolan’s aesthetic preferences were challenged like never before when he was involved in Interstellar. The deep space exploration film, based on the brilliant work of astrophysicist Kip Thorne, promises to be a brilliant piece of science fiction in the vein of classics like “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Solaris” (Tarkovsky or Soderbergh). Interstellar ended up reminding us of those films here and there, but in truth Nolan was unique in his attempt to realistically depict what being involved in a small plot would be like. It’s amazing stuff, and to convince us of his big leaps, Nolan first had to put us in a future version of the Earth that feels close to the one we live in.

To achieve this, Nolan looked to… Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel”?

In an interview with the Daily BeastNolan revealed that when it came to building a realistically working farm, he consulted with Snyder, who had to build one of his own when he filmed Nolan’s “Man of Steel.” Nolan explained his thought process as follows:

“This all-American iconography has always been very strong in the Superman mythos. It was in the (Interstellar) script before I came to the project — (Christopher’s brother Jonathan Nolan) was developing the script for Steven Spielberg to direct, originally — and I think Americana made its way in there.” And I certainly found it very useful when I realized we had to grow our own corn.

Nolan discovered that Snyder had planted 300 acres of corn to make the Kent house look like a working farm. Say what you will about the movie (I’m a fan), but those sweeping shots of cornfields evoke the same kind of awe that Richard Donner conveyed in his 1978 film Superman. So, Nolan started sowing and ended up getting a bumper crop. As he told The Daily Beast, “We planted about 500 acres of corn and actually sold it and ended up making a profit on it.”

So add that profit to whatever Paramount made when Interstellar made $727 million on a budget of $165 million (Including a re-release in 2024). Let this be a lesson learned for aspiring filmmakers. If you want to make some sort of profit from your film, set it on a farm.