Filmmaker Steven Spielberg disclosed in an interview with Empire that he had been part of the film Interstellar for a year. One of the film's producers, Lynda Obst, and astrophysicist and its scientific consultant Kip Thorne brought Spielberg to the project.

Spielberg said that the project piqued his fascination, so much so that he spent much time interacting with scientists and aerospace engineers at a laboratory for space research in California. The filmmaker even brought Jonathan Nolan, director Christopher Nolan's brother, and asked him to write two initial screenplay drafts for the film, but both "did not stick".

He also revealed that Jonathan Nolan told him that if he were to opt out of the project, his brother was waiting for a chance to come onboard.

"He was absolutely right. The second I decided not to make it, Chris jumped on board, probably the next day. Interstellar was a much better movie in Chris Nolan’s hands than it would have been in mine," the legendary filmmaker said.

The film tells the story of an astronaut who goes to galaxies beyond in search of a more habitable planet as blights and dust storms herald a dystopian Earth. It stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Matt Damon, Timothee Chalamet, John Lithgow, and Casey Affleck, among others.

Reportedly, the space odyssey grossed more than  $680 million after its November 2014 release in theatres. It earned multiple nominations at the Academy Awards, winning one in the Visual Effects category.

Spielberg and Nolan are set to have releases in the near future. While the former's film Disclosure Day is slated for a June 12 release, the latter's The Odyssey is scheduled to hit theatres on July 17 this year.