Christopher Nolan's Stop Motion Star Wars Movies Still Exist

When they were younger, one of Christopher and Jonathan Nolan's earliest filmmaking pursuits were the creation of stop-motion animated Star Wars movies. And while you might think that these little videos are list to the ages, you'd be dead wrong. It turns out that Jonathan Nolan has admitted that the Star Wars movies he made as a child with his brother still exist. In fact he even knows exactly where they are too, as he teased that they are currently on his hard-drive. Surely it would be a cinematic crime if he didn’t release them to the world?

Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote the upcoming space opera Interstellar with his sibling, made the revelation during a discussion with Movies.com. Jonathan, who is six-years-younger than Christopher, also admitted that some of his earliest memories involve him trying to assist his brother as he re-created Star Wars movies in their garage. Unfortunately, the fact that he was just a toddler at the time made him more of a hindrance than a help.

"Some of my earliest memories are of Chris making stop-motion space films in our garage. I would help out to the degree a two-year-old was capable of helping out. But I remember … he’d re-create ice planets with flour and our Star Wars toys in stop-motion. The budgets have increased, but the impulse is the same."

As you can probably imagine, the fact that one of the most visually arresting filmmakers in modern movies once paid homage to arguably the most popular film franchise in the history of celluloid immediately got plenty of people excited. The screenwriter was asked if there was any chance that that the Star Wars were still around he answered in the affirmative:

"They do exist! I still have them on a hard drive. That’s the nice thing about film because it lasts a superlong time. So yeah, we still have them."

The fact that Jonathan and Christopher Nolan are such huge fans of the Star Wars series surely means that there is a chance they could perhaps one day work on one of the future additions to the franchise, no? I mean, that simply be a cinematic match-up for the ages, right? Maybe yes and maybe no. Christopher Nolan has blossomed into one of the most idiosyncratic and complex filmmakers in blockbuster history, and while he managed to delightfully work within the constraints of a hugely popular, iconic franchise with The Dark Knight Trilogy, he now seems to have moved into a new, exciting and wholly original realm of cinema with Inception and Interstellar. Christopher Nolan and Batman seemed to fit perfectly together, but I'm not sure I can imagine him having the same kind of alignment within the world of Star Wars (especially because it could require him to give up a good amount of creative control).

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try, and Christopher Nolan possesses both the ambition and the directorial arrogance to try and prove the naysayers wrongs. Until then Interstellar will have to do. And while reviews haven’t been as universally positive as expected, the film allegedly still features truly awe-inspiring intergalactic visuals that you can’t help but be wowed by. You can check out its most recent trailer over on Page Two. It’s a perfect way to start your week and begin the countdown to the movie's release this Friday.

Gregory Wakeman