Christopher Nolan in Talks to Direct Sci-Fi Epic About Time Travel

It looks like JJ Abrams is no longer the only modern legend to direct a sci-fi epic.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, famed Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan is in the final stages of negotiations to helm Interstellar, a space-faring adventure that sees a group of crew members travel through a wormhole.

The film is currently handled by Paramount Pictures but, in the event that it is actually made, will be jointly set up with Warner Bros., and the headquarters for Nolan’s film production banner, Syncopy. All this has possibly played a role in complicating the negotiations between the studios and the director, which have now been reportedly going on for months and are described as “very complex.”

The script for the film is written by Johnathan Nolan, the director’s younger brother and frequent collaborator. Based on the theories of Cal Tech astrophysicist Kip Thorn, the story is expected to revolve around the concepts of time travel and alternate dimensions. Considering the writer’s credit for Memento and his elder brother’s work on films such as Inception, it is quite easy to imagine that the two would be the ideal pairing for a tale that clearly promises complexity and confusion.

Steven Spielberg was also previously attached to the project but that may come to a dead end following reports that his next film, the sci-fi actioner Robopocalypse starring Anne Hathaway and Chris Hemsworth, has been delayed indefinitely.

Regardless of whether or not Nolan ultimately accepts this project, it is easy to imagine him at the director’s helm because he really has proven himself a master of bringing believability to traditionally implausible stories. After giving superhero flicks mainstream status, perhaps Nolan can do the same with science fiction.