Topher Grace is getting yet another chance in the world of genre blockbusters. Following turns in big films like Spider-Man 3 and Predators, Grace is now in talks for a supporting role in Interstellar, the original sci-fi epic from director Christopher Nolan. Should the star sign on the dotted line, he will be joining a stacked cast that also includes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Ellen Burstyn Michael Caine, Timothee Chalamet and Mackenzie Foy. Deadline, which reported the casting news, doesn't mention what kind of part Grace will be playing or how he will fit into the plot.
The film is partially based on the work of Caltech physicist Kip Thorne, who is actually serving as both a technical consultant and an executive producer on the project. Jonathan Nolan, Christopher's brother, wrote the first version of the screenplay, and when Christopher came on board to direct he rewrote the script and merged its story with another idea that he had been toying around with. While nothing about the story has been confirmed by the filmmakers or the studio, it's said that the movie centers on a crew of space explorers who travel through a wormhole to another dimension. It has also been said that the film will contain some time travel elements. Christopher Nolan is also serving as a producer on the movie with partner Emma Thomas.
Grace hasn't had much box office success in recent years, starring in movies like Take Me Home Tonight, The Double, and, most recently, The Big Wedding, but a role in a Nolan film could easily end that trend (after all, the filmmaker did make three of the biggest blockbusters of all time in the last five years). He will soon be see alongside Susan Sarandon and Ellen Burstyn in the Jason Stone-directed thriller The Calling and recently wrapped production on the Justin Reardon comedy A Many Splintered Thing, with Chris Evans, Michelle Monaghan and Aubrey Plaza. Fans haven't been kind to Grace in genre roles, as his version of Venom is constantly cited as one of the biggest problems with Spider-Man 3, and people weren't all too fond of the twist ending of Predators. Perhaps this will be his opportunity for redemption.
Earlier this year at CinemaCon in Las Vegas it was confirmed that Nolan will be filming parts of Interstellar in IMAX, his third time doing so after both The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Unlike those previous titles, however, he won't be working with cinematographer/long-time collaborator Wally Pfister, who is off making his directorial debut, Transcendence. Instead, the director will be working with Hoyte Van Hoytema, who served as DP on acclaimed films such as Let The Right One In, The Fighter and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Production on the new film is expected to start in the next few months and Paramount Pictures will be releasing the film on November 7, 2014.
