Christopher Nolan's $740 Million Movie That Should Have Won Him Best Picture 9 Years Before Oppenheimer Finally Streamed on Netflix

Christopher Nolan's incredible sci-fi drama, Interstellarhas finally arrived on Netflix to play in 2025, and its awards history may be surprising given the film's enduring popularity and acclaim. Since the beginning of his career, Nolan has continued to exemplify the mastery of high-concept science fiction and action films, such as with Memory, The prestige, The Dark Knight trilogy, Startand Principle. In the decade since the film's release, the argument that the peak of Christopher Nolan's epic science fiction cinema arrived in 2014 with Interstellar only received more support, laying the groundwork for the director's enormous achievements with films like Oppenheimer.

Interstellar debuted to positive reviews and an impressive box office haul for a non-franchise Nolan project. Following its IMAX re-release in December 2024, Interstellar accumulated more than US$740 million against a budget of US$165 million (via Mojo Box Office), and currently holds a 72% critic score on Rotten tomatoes. Despite the widespread acclaim and enthusiasm for his film in 2014, it would be another decade before Nolan won Best Picture, let alone Best Director, for 2023. Oppenheimer. With Interstellar now streaming on NetflixIt's a great opportunity to see again why these feats should have happened much earlier.

Interstellar is now streaming on Netflix for the first time in the US

Christopher Nolan's sci-fi hit Interstellar has finally joined Netflix's film library

Although Christopher Nolan's science fiction films – Interstellar in particular – are generally better suited for viewing in theaters than at home on a smaller screen, their additions to streaming catalogs still provide a more accessible way for new audiences to encounter their work and for established fans to easily revisit their masterpieces. As such, Interstellar joining Netflix's movie library on January 1, 2025 is a huge win for the streaming servicewith the expectation of watching the sci-fi film starring Matthew McConaughey being undoubtedly much higher after Nolan's achievements with Oppenheimer.

Before arriving on Netflix in 2025, Interstellar It had long been available to stream on Paramount+unsurprisingly given the film is a Paramount Pictures co-production, but Netflix's increased subscriber count now gives it a much wider audience reach. Of course, its arrival on Netflix also came at the right time, as InterstellarDecember's high-demand IMAX re-release was only available in select locations, with many missing out on the opportunity to see the film in premium format. It may not be the same as watching Interstellar on the big screen, but having immediate access to the sci-fi hit is still a huge benefit.

There are no reports of Interstellar having been available to stream on Netflix in the US ahead of its January 2025 release, which will certainly help open Christopher Nolan's film to a new audience. Furthermore, since InterstellarThe cast stars the young Timothée Chalamet as Coop's son, Tom, interest in seeing the film on Netflix should also be greater due to the actor's current release in theaters, critically acclaimed, A complete stranger. Not to mention, Nolan's name is back in the headlines following the announcement of his upcoming Homer adaptation. The Odyssey.

Interstellar is still one of Christopher Nolan's best films

Interstellar remains a great achievement in cinema

Christopher Nolan has no shortage of acclaimed films and has continued to release incredibly strong awards contenders, critical hits, and box office hits ever since. Interstellar. However, given its technical and narrative achievements, its influence on the science fiction genre, and the compelling performances of its cast, Interstellar remains one of Christopher Nolan's best films in his prolific film career.

Interstellar is arguably Christopher Nolan's best and most emotionally compelling science fiction film to datewith the director mastering his craft while integrating many of the innovative and successful elements of his previous celebrated sci-fi projects such as The prestige and Start. Interstellar stands out among other Christopher Nolan films that created long-awaited milestones in his career, made a lasting impact on his genre and technical output, and exemplified his greatest strengths as a filmmaker.

Sure, 2008 The Dark Knight is another of Nolan's most revolutionary films, being a groundbreaking adaptation that changed the perception of what a superhero film could and should be in Hollywood. Furthermore, Interstellar has earned a prominent place among Nolan's most influential films, such as Oppenheimerarriving as his Best Picture-winning biographical war epic, Dunkirkproving to be a masterful war drama, and Startwhich remains one of the smartest and most innovative action sci-fi films of the 21st century.

Interstellar Shockingly Wasn't Nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars (But Deserved to Be That Year's Winner)

Interstellar's influential legacy continues to be strengthened as time passes

However Interstellar Now widely regarded as one of Christopher Nolan's greatest cinematic achievements, it was shockingly snubbed at the 2015 Oscars in the main category. In 2015, the nominees for Best Film were Birdman (who won the prize), American sniper, Infancy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The imitation game, Selma, The theory of everythingand Whip. To be fair, 2014 was an incredibly strong year for cinema, so Interstellar had some fierce competition during the awards circuit. But, The fact that it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture despite its holistic and influential achievements is baffling.

An explanation for InterstellarThe snub of that year is the fact that most of the 2015 Best Picture Oscar nominees were biopics, dramas, historical films, and timely commentaries on the pressures of the craft and the industry itself. Interstellar didn't fit that mold, so unlike Christopher Nolan's previous sci-fi hit Startwas left out of the Best Film competition. Furthermore, perhaps even more surprisingly, Christopher Nolan wasn't even nominated for Best Director for Interstellardespite being one of the greatest examples of his direction to date.

Interstellar It wasn't completely forgotten at the 2015 Oscars ceremony, however. Christopher Nolan's film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Production Design and Best visual effects categories, the last of which Interstellar gain. Still, it's shocking today to remember Interstellar being excluded from the Best Picture race, especially as its reputation became even more positive in the following decade, which cannot be said for some of the other films that received nominations in the category that year.

Birdman remains a fantastic work of cinema with poignant themes and timely cultural commentary, and is certainly among the best works of Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Michael Keaton, but It's currently hard to believe that it will have a stronger, more influential and lasting legacy on the future of Hollywood than Interstellar. It took a long time for Nolan's films to break the barrier of Oscar contention, despite his cultural and technical influence (Start was his first Best Picture nod), but with Oppenheimer finally getting him a win, his next films will hopefully not be forgotten in the same way as Interstellar in 2015.

Sources: Mojo Box Office, Rotten tomatoes