Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
For the record, I like Interstellar. A lot. It’s pretty much everything I want from a quest through the unknown to save humanity. But if you think about the plot too carefully, it leaves some questions to be answered. So I thought I'd take a shot at writing a different ending. One in which Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) doesn't get pulled into a tesseract, or have a heartfelt reunion with Murph (Mackenzie Foy/Jessica Chastain/Ellen Burstyn) only to have her basically tell him to bug off.
The new ending picks up at a critical juncture in the film, where Cooper is about to sacrifice himself (and Ranger 2) so that Brand (Anne Hathaway) has enough fuel and supplies to make it to Edmund’s planet and set up a colony. Some of the dialogue or action descriptions that repeat from earlier parts of the film (you’ll see what I mean) are taken from the Nolans’ script. Not trying to plagiarize here. The rest is original content.
Without further ado, I give you: Interstellar, Reimagined.
We’ll start off with the Nolans’ script, to get us situated:
EXT. ENDURANCE - DAY
As Lander 1 FALLS back towards Gargantua, Ranger 2’s engines DIE OUT . . .
INT. RING MODULE, ENDURANCE - CONTINUOUS
Case registers the burnout.
CASE
Ranger 2, prepare to detach -
Brand looks up, SHOCKED -
BRAND
NO!
She UNBUCKLES -
CASE
On my mark -
FLIES to the window looking onto Cooper -
BRAND
What are you doing!
CASE
Three . . .
INT. COCKPIT, RANGER 2 - CONTINUOUS
Cooper looks across at Brand.
COOPER
Newton’s third law - you have
to leave something behind.
CASE
(over radio)
Two . . .
INT. RING MODULE, ENDURANCE - CONTINUOUS
Brand pushes her helmet up against the window.
BRAND
You told me we had enough power -
CASE
One . . .
INT. COCKPIT, RANGER 2 - CONTINUOUS
Cooper looks at her, fondly -
COOPER
Hey, we agreed - ninety percent.
CASE
(over radio)
Mark . . .
Cooper reaches for the button. Takes one last look at Brand - inside her helmet, Brand is crying, zero-G tears catching in her eyelashes like melted snowflakes.
Cooper hits the button. But the word catches in his throat -.
COOPER
Detach -
EXT. ENDURANCE - CONTINUOUS
Ranger 2 DROPS AWAY from the Endurance . . .
EXT. GARGANTUA - CONTINUOUS
Ranger 2 speeds towards the looming black hole. Sparks bounce off the hull. It seems to be getting longer and flatter; it’s SPAGHETTIFYING.
INT. COCKPIT, ENDURANCE - CONTINUOUS
Brand shakes her head to clear the tears blurring the plastic bubble of her helmet, CHOKING on a sob. A CRACKLE comes through the radio, and Cooper’s voice cuts through the silence.
COOPER
Tell Murph . . .
He can’t finish.
BRAND
I’ll tell her you were
ninety percent a hero.
Cooper’s CHUCKLE is transmitted in chunks. The radio cuts out.
INT. COCKPIT, RANGER 2 - CONTINUOUS
COOPER
Stage three . . . SEPARATION.
INT. COCKPIT, ENDURANCE - CONTINUOUS
Brand salutes into the void. Outside the cockpit window, Ranger 2 stretches. Flames lick the sides of the craft. Brand CRIES OUT as she sees Ranger 2 explode into fragments.
INT. RANGER 2 - CONTINUOUS
Cooper grips his seat. Watches a curvature of darkness creep up the cockpit window, SQUEEZING the visible universe into curved lines, like dust settled into the grooves of an old record.
Stars SPIN rapidly to the sides of the window, creating a tunnel of time and space. The star-tunnel grows smaller and smaller. Then -- nothing.
INT. RANGER 2 - DARK
COOPER
Tars. Do you copy?
TARS
Indeed.
COOPER
What’s going on out there?
TARS
Not a ‘hole’ lot. Things are
looking pretty black.
Tars CHUCKLES. Cooper checks the control panel.
COOPER
Seems like all systems are operational
except for your humor setting.
(beat)
How long do we have?
TARS
Unclear. Gargantua is big enough that
the forces of gravity that might otherwise
pull you in different directions are fairly
weak. We're free-falling.
COOPER
We’ll just keep falling until we die
of old age or we reach the singularity?
TARS
Most likely.
COOPER
Any chance we can transmit the data
back to Brand on the way down?
TARS
I will try sending a transmission from
all wavelengths. But the odds of the
data escaping Gargantua's grasp
are virtually zero.
COOPER
This mission was a waste. We should’ve
stayed back on Earth, gotten people
out while we had time. Figured it out
from there.
TARS
No use fretting about that now.
Cooper punches some buttons on the control panel.
COOPER
Are you seeing this data? Gargantua
is shedding a massive amount of
radiation.
TARS
I am the one collecting the data, you
know. If my calculations are correct,
the space-time that the black hole has
sucked in has almost outgrown the
singularity.
Cooper rubs the sides of his face. Thinks for a second.
COOPER
So the singularity could explode?
Then what?
TARS
We’d be in a white hole.
COOPER
You heard Brand. White holes are
impossible, because time can’t
run backwards.
TARS
Counterpoint. A white hole is
inconsistent with the current theory
of our universe. But that theory doesn’t
even explain all of the phenomena
humans can observe.
Cooper nods, realization dawning.
COOPER
Dark energy. And dark matter.
TARS
Exactly. The operative model explains
five percent of the mass of the
universe. Plenty of room for error.
Cooper unbuckles from his seat and stumbles to the control panel. He flips switches and Ranger 2 goes dark.
COOPER
No sense in staying awake to find
out whether you’re right. Unlock the
cryo-bed if something happens, will you?
TARS
No guarantees. I’m a direct descendant
of HAL 9000.
COOPER
The least you could do is sing me
a song, then.
TARS
(singing)
Daisy, Daisy, give me your
answer do . . .
INT. MURPH’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Murph (forty) stands in front of the bookshelves, eyes SEARCHING for an answer.
MURPH
(mumbling)
Please. Give me something.
INT. RANGER 2 - DARK
The cryo-bed lifts from the floor and opens. It forces Cooper into a sitting position. He GASPS, struggling to breathe.
TARS
Rise and shine.
COOPER
Am I dead?
TARS
Not yet. But the data from the
singularity is getting . . . stranger.
COOPER
How so?
TARS
It’s mathematically impossible. I’m
transmitting a copy to the data chip
in your helmet. Better suit up.
COOPER
Hard to tell who’s the captain around here these days.
Cooper takes the data chip from the back of his helmet. It's branded with his initials -- J.C. He pulls his watch from his pocket, slips off the back, and slides the data chip inside.
The Ranger is bathed in a dazzling white light. It REVERSES direction on a dime, sending Cooper flying into the control panel. He struggles against the gravitational force.
COOPER
Tars!! Tars, do you copy!
Nothing.
Cooper turns on Ranger 2 and crawls to the pilot seat. With effort, he SPINS the ship.
EXT. RANGER 2 - CONTINUOUS
The white light expels everything it touches. Then it fades, and stars reappear. The Ranger speeds ahead.
Suddenly the Endurance MATERIALIZES out of nowhere.
INT. RANGER 2 - CONTINUOUS
COOPER
(quickly)
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Why hasn’t she moved?
Cooper FLIPS a switch.
COOPER
Brand. Can you hear me, Brand?
Brand, do you copy?
Nothing. Cooper POUNDS on the seat, frustrated.
EXT. RANGER 2 - CONTINUOUS
Ranger 2 slows as it meets up with the Endurance. It REATTACHES.
INT. RANGER 2 - CONTINUOUS
Cooper springs out of his seat and rushes to the hatch ---
INT. ENDURANCE - CONTINUOUS
Cooper sees EARLIER COOPER scramble to where Brand is checking her equipment. Cooper looks down at his own hands. Looks back up at EARLIER COOPER. He recognizes this moment.
COOPER
(softly, to himself)
Brand was wrong about time.
It is two-directional.
EARLIER COOPER
The navigation mainframe’s destroyed
and we don’t have enough life support to
make it back to Earth. But we might scrape
to Edmunds’ planet.
BRAND
What about fuel?
EARLIER COOPER
Not enough. But I’ve got a plan -- let
Gargantua suck us right to her horizon
-- then a powered slingshot around to
launch us at Edmunds.
COOPER
(to himself)
I wonder if I can . . .
Cooper cuts in --
COOPER
That’s not going to work. You can’t
save Mur -- Earth -- without the data,
and Tars can't transmit from inside the
black hole.
Nobody reacts. Cooper moves toward them and then --
INT. COCKPIT, LANDER - CONTINUOUS
Cooper watches Earlier Cooper focus intensely on rescuing the Endurance, which is in a FAST FLAT SPIN, heading down toward the stratosphere of Dr Mann’s planet --
CASE
Cooper, there’s no point using our fuel to -
EARLIER COOPER
Just analyze the Endurance’s spin -
BRAND
What’re you doing?
Cooper is PROPELLED forward --
INT. DR MANN’S POD - CONTINUOUS
Cooper stands, watching Murph’s message on Tars’ data screen. He is oblivious to EARLIER COOPER, Dr Mann, Romilly, and Brand, who are also watching.
MURPH
(Small.)
Did my father know? Dad . . .?
Cooper runs up and grabs Tars.
COOPER
I would have stayed. You have
to believe me, Murph.
MURPH (CONT.)
Did you leave me here to die?
The screen goes dark. Cooper turns away and --
INT. COCKPIT, RANGER - CONTINUOUS
Cooper hunches near the hatch. A distant tidal wave looms through the cockpit window.
EARLIER COOPER
Don’t just shake your head at me - !
BRAND
Time is relative - it can stretch and squeeze -
but it can’t run backwards. The only thing
that can move across dimensions like time
is gravity.
Cooper STEPS to the control panel --
INT. RING MODULE, ENDURANCE - CONTINUOUS
The NASA team travels through the wormhole. Cooper crouches near the control panel, stunned and disoriented.
DOYLE
They won’t help you in here. We’re cutting
through the bulk -- space beyond our three
dimensions . . .
(checks his equipment)
All we can do is record and observe.
Cooper ponders. He unzips his pocket and pulls out the watch, extending it towards Brand.
Brand JUMPS as a shimmery strand extends towards her, forming ripples in spacetime inside the cabin.
ROMILLY
What is that?!
BRAND
I think -- I think it’s them.
ROMILLY
Distorting spacetime? Don’t -- !
COOPER
This is the data, Brand. Send it home!
Brand reaches out towards the warped space -- it MOVES towards her, DISTORTING her hand -- but she can’t quite grab it.
INT. RANGER COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS
Cooper is plastered to the back wall of the rocket. He grips a nearby handle with both hands.
VOICE (O.S.)
Stage one . . . SEPARATION.
They break out of the Earth’s atmosphere.
VOICE (O.S.)
Stage two . . . SEPARATION.
Cooper shakes loose the bonds of gravity --
INT. MURPH’S BEDROOM - DAY
Cooper stumbles into Murph’s bedroom. Exhausted. He sees Earlier Cooper sitting on the bed next to Murph. Books are strewn on the floor, leaving gaps in the bookshelf. Murph is examining her watch.
EARLIER COOPER
When I’m in hyper-sleep, or travel near
the speed of light, or near a black hole,
time will change for me. It’ll run more
slowly. When I get back we’ll compare.
MURPH
Time will run differently for us?
EARLIER COOPER
Yup. By the time I get back we might
even be the same age. You and me.
Imagine that . . .
Murph takes this in. She frowns.
EARLIER COOPER (CONT.)
Wait, Murph --
MURPH
You have no idea when you’re coming
back. No idea at all!
Murph THROWS the watch - TURNS HER BACK.
EARLIER COOPER
Don’t make me leave like this.
(beat)
Please. I have to go now.
Murph refuses to look at him. Earlier Cooper tries to rest his hand on the back of her head, but she squirms away.
EARLIER COOPER
I love you, Murph. Forever.
And I’m coming back.
COOPER
Don’t leave!
Earlier Cooper starts to leave. Cooper runs over to the bookcase and yanks at a book. The book DROPS FROM THE SHELF, startling him.
COOPER
(yelling)
Listen to her!!
Earlier Cooper turns to look at the book, then leaves.
COOPER
You don’t have to go.
Cooper picks up Murph’s watch and compares it to his own. The times are drastically different, and the second hand on his watch is spinning quickly. He replaces Murph’s watch with his own. Turns toward her.
COOPER
Murph, you can’t let him leave.
You have the answers, right here --
INT. MURPH’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Suddenly, it’s dark outside. A desk and chair are stacked against the door. Cooper watches from beside the bookshelf.
EARLIER COOPER
Murph?
MURPH
Go! If you’re leaving, just go!
Cooper examines the bookcase. All the books are in order. The watch is gone, too. Footsteps fade down the hallway. Murph hops out of bed and whispers to the bookshelf.
MURPH
Give me a sign, ghost. I’ll do anything
you want, for the rest of my life.
Nothing. Murph SIGHS and crawls back into bed.
Cooper pulls a book off the shelf. It lands with a THUD. Murph sits up, alert. Working quickly, Cooper pulls books from the bookshelf at carefully planned intervals.
Murph decodes in her notebook.
MURPH
S . . . T . . . A . . . stay. Stay!
COOPER
Good, Murph. You’ll have the answer
soon enough. Don’t let me leave again --
INT. VAST CIRCULAR CHAMBER (LAUNCH FACILITY) -- CONTINUOUS
Cooper looks up at the ROCKET on the launch pad, DWARFED by the circular chamber. Shakes his head. Professor Brand is lecturing to Earlier Cooper.
PROFESSOR BRAND
This crew’s never left the simulator. We can’t
program this mission from Earth, we don’t
know what’s out there. We need a pilot.
And this is the mission you were trained for.
COOPER
Definitely not the mission you were trained for.
EARLIER COOPER
Without ever knowing. An hour ago, you didn’t
even know I was still alive. And you were going
anyway.
PROFESSOR BRAND
We had no choice. But something brought
you here. They chose you.
EARLIER COOPER
Who’s ‘they’?
Suddenly, Cooper understands.
COOPER
Not ‘they.’ Me. I will give you the coordinates.
Because if I don't, I don't make it here.
EARLIER COOPER
How long would I be gone?
PROFESSOR BRAND
Hard to know. Years.
Cooper’s had enough. He waits for time to whisk him away.
INT. MURPH’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Murph (forty) sighs and turns away from the bookshelves. She picks up her decoding notebook from its place on her desk. Opens it. Sees the word ‘STAY.’ Ponders, searching for an answer.
She walks back to the bookshelf. Picks up the lunar model. Sets it down.
She moves down a couple of shelves and spots the watch. Blows the dust off of it. Looks closely. The second hand is spinning, and the time is wrong.
Murph turns the watch over, pushes on the edge and slides the back off, revealing a data chip with the initials J.C. in the corner.
MURPH
Dad?
She shoves books off the bookshelf, looking for more signs of him. Rummages through a box on the floor. Nothing.
MURPH
You came back. To save us -- to save me.
She runs back to her notebook and flips through it, back to front. At the beginning, there’s an undeciphered BARCODE. She writes letters below it.
The message says “Forever.”