"INTERSTELLAR" (2014)

INTERSTELLAR

written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan

Transferred to PDF from: "Interstellar - The Complete Screenplay with Selected Storyboards" Published November 2014 by Faber & Faber Ltd. (UK)

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY

BLACK. THE GENTLE SOUND OF WIND IN CORN

A row of books. From spaces between them, dust falls.

I N T E R S T E L L A R

BRIGHT CORN STALKS FILL THE FRAME, SWAYING IN THE BREEZE

The wind is RISING, shaking the plants more FORCEFULLY ...

Insert cut: a WOMAN in her eighties against a dark background.

The WIND IS HOWLING, SHRIEKING and we RIP INTO -

BURNING through the fringes of space -

A young PILOT fights his BUFFETING craft -

The Pilot grabs a panicked glance at his instruments -

The BLACK and RED SKY starts SPINNING HORRIFYINGLY -

As the controls RIP themselves free, the pilot SHOUTS and we -

A man WAKES, nightmare SWEATY. This is COOPER.

YOUNG GIRL’S VOICE (O.S.) Dad? Dad?

Cooper turns: in the doorway - his sleepy ten-year-old daughter. This is MURPH.

Murph shuffles back out the door. Cooper moves to the window. DAWN breaks over an ENDLESS SEA OF CORN ...

INSERT CUT: AN OLD-TIMER IN CLOSE UP, WATERY-EYED, DESCRIBES DUST BOWL CONDITIONS.

An old man, handkerchief across his face, sweeps dust out of the door onto the porch. This is Grandpa (DONALD).

Cooper pours himself coffee as Donald puts grits on the table. TOM, Cooper’s fifteen-year-old son, stuffs his face.

Murph, wet hair, towel around neck, plays with pieces of a MODEL (a lunar lander).

Donald looks at Cooper, admonishing. Cooper shrugs.

Cooper gets up, grabs his keys.

The kids pile into an old pickup truck, scraping DUST off the seats. Cooper, coffee in hand, peers at a black cloud.

Cooper stares at the smoke. Uneasy. Gets into the truck.

Cooper sips his coffee, steering while Murph shifts -

Murph wrestles the long gear stick into second. Cooper sips.

Murph struggles to find third - GRIND.

BANG - A TIRE BLOWS OUT. Cooper stops the truck.

Cooper gets out of the truck, checks the flat, turns to Tom.

Tom moves to the back of the truck. Murph is there.

Murph frowns, hearing something ...

Then Cooper hears it, too. A LOW RUMBLE. Cooper GRABS Murph as a DRONE SOARS low overhead -

Cooper jumps into the truck - he pulls out a laptop and antenna hands them to Murph - shouts at Tom -

Close on the SHREDDING TIRE as the truck BARRELS through cornfields. Murph fires up the laptop. Cooper strains to see through the cornstalks, scanning the horizon -

To the right, the dark shape of the drone, cruising low over the fields. Cooper JERKS the wheel - the drone has long, thin wings like a U-2, but no cockpit.

Tom takes the wheel - Cooper hands Murph the antenna.

Cooper works the laptop - the screen fills with Hindi.

Faster, Tom. I’m losing it.

Tom WEAVES through the corn - they round a corner, almost HIT a HARVESTER - BANG - the truck loses a wing mirror -

Ahead the drone SOARS, banking, pulling away -

The truck BURSTS out of the corn, Cooper’s nose is in the laptop.

In front of them, the drone plummets from view into the next valley - the path ahead leads to a three-hundred-foot drop.

Cooper looks up.

Tom locks up the brakes. Cooper looks at him - he shrugs.

Cooper grabs the laptop and opens the door.

Murph is still pointing the antenna.

The DRONE SOARS BACK OVER THEM - Cooper is moving his fingers across the track pad, PILOTING THE DRONE.

As the kids watch, Cooper sends the drone soaring over them, banking above the valley. Cooper crouches next to Murph.

Murph, guided by Cooper, moves her fingers across the track pad - the massive drone BANKS in response. Murph is in heaven.

The truck limps up to the drone. Cooper and the kids climb down. Cooper runs a hand along the smooth carbon flank of the aircraft.

Cooper finds an access hatch. Pries it open. Examines the black-box brain of the machine.

Cooper looks down at his daughter. Good kid.

The truck pulls up to school, drone fuselage hanging out.

Pats Murph on shoulder.

Needs to wait.

Murph glares at Tom as he hops out.

Murph pulls out a notebook. Starts drawing a BARCODE.

Cooper enters, awkward. The PRINCIPAL (male, fifties) turns from the window.

Cooper nods at Murph’s teacher, Ms Hanley, thirties, attractive.

The Principal slides a paper across the desk.

Ms Hanley stifles a laugh. The Principal shoots her a look.

Cooper leans back. He’s not going to win this one.

Cooper shifts his gaze to Ms Hanley.

Ms Hanley places a textbook on the desk.

She brought this to school, to show the other kids the section on the lunar landings ...

Cooper considers this in silence. Looks at Ms Hanley.

Ms Hanley looks at Cooper, embarrassed. Then -

Ms Hanley looks at him, expectant.

Ms Hanley turns to the Principal, not happy.

Murph looks up from her notebook at her dad, expectantly.

The CB radio CRACKLES to life.

Cooper and Murph pass a slow-moving harvester pulling up to the house, which is surrounded by AUTOMATED FARM MACHINES. They’ve nosed up to the house like animals at a Nativity. Boots, the farm hand, approaches -

Cooper pops open the cabin to a harvester. Checks the auto pilot hooked up to the controls.

Cooper jumps down and heads to the front door. Enters.

Cooper looks at the kitchen. Nothing. Murph comes in.

A small BANG from upstairs. Cooper heads up.

Murph’s bedroom clearly used to be her mother’s. Cooper, in the doorway, looks at the wall of BOOKS opposite - several GAPS. He looks down at some books on the floor.

Murph holds up her notebook with its barcode.

He leaves. Murph, embarrassed, turns back to the shelf.

Donald hands Cooper a beer.

Donald nods. Sips.

Donald nods, thoughtful. Weighs up his words.

He turns to Cooper.

This world isn’t so bad. And Tom’ll do just fine - you’re the one who doesn’t belong. Born forty years too late, or forty years too early. My daughter knew it, God bless her. And your kids know it. ’Specially Murph.

Cooper looks up at the stars above.

INSERT CUT: THE OLD-TIMER REMEMBERS. CUT TO A SECOND OLD-TIMER ...

The CRACK of ball off bat - a pop-fly caught to a trickle of applause. Half-filled stands at what looks like a minor league game.

As the team runs in from the field we see: NEW YORK YANKEES.

Murph offers Donald some popcorn.

Cooper sits with Tom a row in front.

Cooper looks at Donald, who shrugs ’sorry’.

On the field: the batter hits one along the ground - it rolls to an infielder’s foot - but the infielder IGNORES it, STARING up at the sky. The crowd starts to look up ...

INSERT CUT: THE OLD-TIMER CHOKES BACK FEAR AS HE REMEMBERS.

Cooper stares at the horizon, where an ENORMOUS BLACK DUST STORM IS MASSING. People start leaving, tying handkerchiefs across their faces.

Cooper speeds along as Donald and the kids stuff RAGS into cracks and vents ... behind them the WALL OF BLACK DUST ADVANCES, SWALLOWING UP ROADS, BUILDINGS. A nasty SOUND is developing - the truck ROCKING with GUSTS of wind ...

Suddenly, BLACK DUST ENVELOPS the car, LIGHTNING CRACKLING.

Murph and Tom take SURGICAL MASKS out of the glove box.

VISIBILITY MERE FEET as the dust storm BRUTALIZES the farm. The truck CRAWLS up to the house. Cooper leans in to try and see better ... CRACK - a panel of sheet metal SMASHES into the windshield - Cooper turns - wrestles Murph out of the truck as Donald blindly stumbles towards the front door with Tom ...

The SHUTTERS BANG as the wind WHIPS around the house, FORCING JETS OF DUST up through cracks in the window frames, floorboards ... Donald SLAMS the door. Murph is COUGHING ... Cooper looks around. Sees dust coming from upstairs.

Tom nods. Murph looks at Cooper. Runs for the stairs.

Cooper gets to the doorway. Murph stands in the middle of the room, STARING. Cooper SHUTS the window. The dust hangs in the relative quiet. Murph is staring, TRANSFIXED, at LINES where dust is FALLING UNNATURALLY FAST, STREAMING DOWN through the air, collecting on the floor in a PATTERN -

Cooper STARES at dust collecting like snow on power lines...

Calm. Dust settled.

Murph slips out of bed, wrapped in her blanket. Pads down the hall, peeks in her bedroom door at -

Cooper sits, staring at the PATTERN of dust: thick radial lines, like a CIRCULAR BARCODE. Murph sits down next to her dad. They STARE at it together. He holds up a coin ...

Cooper tosses the coin across a line. It SHOOTS at the floor -

It’s gravity.

Donald pokes his head in.

Cooper reaches for Murph’s notebook. Starts writing ...

Murph fills a glass of water. Picks up a plate of sandwiches.

Follow Murph into the room, to find Cooper standing there.

Cooper is pointing to the thick and thin radial lines -

Binary. Thick is one, thin is zero - it’s numbers ... number pairs...

He holds up the notebook to show Murph the number pairs.

Coordinates.

Cooper and Murph pore over MAPS. Cooper TOSSES one aside, lays it out on the table. Finds a spot. Looks up at Murph ...

Cooper packing his truck - sleeping bag, flashlight ...

Cooper grabs the maps and a bottle of water. He calls up -

Nothing.

Murph, just wait here for Grandpa. Tell him I’ll call him on the radio.

Cooper drives, map spread on the wheel, looks for a pen - reaches over to the passenger wheel well - lifts a BLANKET - Murph is there -

The truck WOBBLES as Cooper regains control.

Murph, what are you doing?!

Murph is LAUGHING as she climbs into the passenger seat -

But Murph’s laugh is infectious.

Cooper hands Murph the map.

The pickup cruises down the road, heading for the MOUNTAINS.

The tiny pickup is dwarfed by the darkening foothills.

Cooper pulls up to a gate in chain-link fence. Murph is asleep next to him.

Murph wakes.

I think this is as far as we get.

Murph glances out at the fence. Closes her eyes again.

Cooper gets out of the truck, retrieves his bolt-cutters and comes up to the fence. He looks up and down the road. Nothing. He reaches out and puts the jaws of the cutters -

WHAM! SPOTLIGHTS IN COOPER’S EYES - A HARSH ELECTRIC VOICE -

VOICE STEP AWAY FROM THE FENCE.

Cooper drops the cutters, puts his hands in the air -

Murph watches, terrified as, with a ZAP, Cooper DROPS. Murph SCRAMBLES back along the seat as MASSIVE FOOTSTEPS APPROACH. The door is WRENCHED open - a BLINDING LIGHT

VOICE DON’T BE AFRAID.

Murph SCREAMS.

Cooper comes to, sitting in a chair. Opposite him is an ARTICULATED MACHINE. A VOICE emanates from its side.

Cooper leans in to the machine.

Cooper’s scream REVERBERATES. Cooper sizes up the machine.

You might think you’re still in the Marines, but the Marines don’t exist anymore, pal. I’ve got grunts like you mowing my grass ...

The Machine RISES to its full height.

Cooper turns to see a businesslike woman in her thirties.

The machine, TARS, sinks back down.

Brand considers this. Turns to Tars.

Cooper follows Brand into a corridor. Tars LURCHES behind.

Brand ushers Cooper through a door into a conference room -

Where an OLD MAN is crouched down, talking to Murph.

Murph runs into Cooper’s arms. The Old Man SMILES at Cooper.

Cooper and Murph sit at a table where five people are waiting - a bespectacled man, WILLIAMS, leans forward to address Cooper.

Cooper looks nervously around the room.

Cooper is losing them. Williams leans forward. Serious.

All eyes turn to Murph. She’s said the magic word. Doyle looks at Professor Brand, excited. Turns to Cooper -

Cooper looks at Murph. Then covers Murph’s ears.

Brand laughs. Williams smiles. Cooper looks confused.

Now Cooper is laughing, too. Murph looks around, confused.

Professor Brand shows Cooper the facility.

Professor Brand ushers Cooper through a large door -

Professor Brand gestures to large PLANTATIONS under glass.

Brand enters with Murph. She shows her the greenhouses.

Professor Brand shows him a blighted stalk.

Blight does. And as it thrives our air contains less and less oxygen ...

Professor Brand gestures over at Murph ...

The last people to starve will be the first to suffocate. Your daughter’s generation will be the last to survive on Earth.

Cooper looks over at Murph. Then back to Professor Brand.

Cooper and Professor Brand enter like ants in a grain silo. A ROCKET is on a pad, DWARFED by the circular chamber. Far above, a ring of mirrors reflects the dawn down into the facility.

Cooper stares up at the rocket. He recognizes the arrangement of two CRAFT at the top.

Professor Brand nods.

There’s no planet in our solar system that can support life ... and it’d take them a thousand years to reach the nearest star - that doesn’t even qualify as futile ... Where did you send them, Professor?

Professor Brand is silent. Cooper wrestles.

How long would I be gone?

Cooper considers this. Decides.

A man in his forties has the solar system up on the screen. This is ROMILLY.

Cooper stares at an image of Saturn and its moons. Romilly zooms in on some stars DISTORTED like ripples in a pond.

Professor Brand rises and moves to a MEMORIAL, pointing -

Cooper cocks his head, puzzling at the VAST chamber ... there are structures built SIDEWAYS around the CURVED walls...

TECHNICIANS work the complex, high-tech lab. Professor Brand and Cooper follow Brand to a large glass and steel apparatus.

Cooper looks at the equipment. Unenthusiastic.

Professor Brand watches Cooper as he gazes over the vast tracts of ALGEBRA covering every available surface.

Professor Brand moves close to Cooper.

Cooper looks at the passion in Professor Brand’s eyes.

Cooper considers this. Uneasy.

Donald, on the porch, gets to his feet as he sees Cooper’s pickup approaching. The truck pulls up. Murph TEARS past Grandpa into the house - Donald looks at Cooper, questioning.

Cooper tries to open the door, but Murph has stacked a desk and chair against it -

Donald looks out at the night, taking it all in.

Donald considers this. Turns to Cooper.

Donald considers this. Scoops the dust off the rail.

Cooper meets Donald’s gaze. Looks away, nodding.

Cooper’s hand, reaching in, removes the chair from the desk, barricading the door. Murph is lying on the bed, turned away. Cooper pushes the desk back gently. Enters, quietly.

Nothing.

I have to fix this before I go.

Murph turns, tear-stained, angry cheeks blazing -

Cooper sits down on the bed next to Murph.

Points at the shelves. The gaps.

Cooper shakes his head sadly. Murph holds out her notebook -

’STAY’. It says ’STAY’, Dad.

Cooper takes his daughter in his arms ...

Murph buries her head on Cooper’s shoulder, sobbing.

Murph, a father looks in his child’s eyes and thinks - maybe it’s them ... maybe my child will save the world. And everyone, once a child, wants to look into their own dad’s eyes and know he saw how they saved some little corner of their world. But, usually, by then, the father is gone.

Cooper looks at his daughter. Lies with head, not heart:

Cooper reaches into his pocket. Pulls out two WATCHES.

Murph takes the watch, curious. Cooper holds up his watch.

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 takes this in. Cooper sees he’s made a mistake.

Wait, Murph -

Cooper looks at his daughter.

Murph THROWS the watch - TURNS HER BACK.

Nothing.

Please. I have to go now.

Murph will not turn around. Cooper tries to rest his hand on the back of her head, but she shakes it off.

Cooper walks slowly out. A BOOK DROPS FROM THE SHELF. Cooper turns to look at it. Then leaves.

Cooper, mechanical, puts his small bag in the truck.

Cooper turns to Tom. Hugs him. Tight enough for both kids.

I love you, Tom.

Cooper gets in. Starts the engine.

Mind my kids for me, Donald.

Donald nods. Cooper pulls out.

Murph jumps off the bed, GRABS the watch, RUNS downstairs.

As Cooper drives he lifts the blanket in the wheel-well where Murph hid last time. Nothing. And we hear a COUNTDOWN...

VOICE (O.S.) TEN ... NINE ...

Murph RACES out of the house, watch in hand -

VOICE (V.O.) EIGHT ... SEVEN ...

But Cooper is a dust trail far down the road.

VOICE (O.S.) SIX ... FIVE ...

Murph SOBS as her grandpa puts his arms around her ...

As Cooper drives away tears roll down his cheeks

VOICE (O.S.) FOUR ... THREE ... TWO ... ONE ...

VOICE (O.S.) IGNITION.

FIRE SHOOTS FROM THE BASE OF THE ROCKET ... The rocket RISES slowly from the pad, up into the sky ...

Cooper, in his space helmet, lets the FORCE of the rocket vibrate through him ...

VOICE (O.S.) Stage one ... SEPARATION.

Cooper starts to see the Earth’s curve through the window...

VOICE (O.S.) Stage two ... SEPARATION.

And Cooper shakes loose the bonds of Earth.

The rocket RIPS upwards into the sky.

Cooper glances around the vibrating, cramped cockpit - Brand, Doyle, Romilly, Tars. Tars spots Cooper’s glance -

Cooper looks at him, confused.

Tars looks at Cooper. A beat. An LED turns on. Cooper shakes his head.

Cooper turns to the instruments -

EARTH ORBIT - CONTINUOUS

The Rangers streak across the Earth, settle into a low orbit.

Quiet. Cooper stares down at the continents sliding by. He looks over at Brand who is doing the same, abstracted.

She stares at the land. The oceans.

It’s hard. Leaving everything. My kids ... your father ...

Tars DISENGAGES from the floor and MOVES to the rear airlock -

Cooper turns to Brand. Shrugs.

Brand looks at Cooper. Can’t help smiling.

VOICE (over radio) Sixty seconds out...

The Rangers approach a RING MODULE, fire retro-thrusters and slide gracefully into the center of the ring - the last piece of a large modular craft: the U.S.S. ENDURANCE. Four LANDERS (including the Rangers) are nestled inside the ring module.

Brand, Doyle and Romilly, following Tars, FLOAT through the cramped cabins, powering up. Tars powers up a second articulated machine, CASE.

Cooper checks instruments -

Doyle and Romilly are strapped in - Brand grabs a handhold -

Cooper hits a switch ...

Thrusters silently fire on the Endurance. It starts ROTATING.

The crew members settle in as gravity is established. Romilly is clearly struggling to find his sea legs in the rotating ship.

The crew listen to Professor Brand over the video link -

Cooper thinks about two years. What it means to his kids.

Cooper and Doyle flick switches and check instruments -

Brand, Romilly, Tars and Case strap in.

Cooper turns to Doyle. HITS the thrusters.

Endurance’s main engines FIRE. The craft PUSHES out of orbit -

The craft accelerates away from Earth.

The crew sets up their CRYO-BEDS. Cooper looks out at the diminishing Earth floating in the void. Brand joins him.

Brand shows him a blurry image of a dark blue planet.

Laura Miller’s first. She started our biology program.

She shows him a red world, just a tiny dot.

And Wolf Edmunds is here.

Cooper hears something in her voice.

Brand replaces the screen image for a grainy, white orb.

Brand looks at him. Smiles.

Brand moves to her cryo-bed. Cooper looks out at space.

Cooper nods at her. Joins Tars.

Brand’s cryo-bed darkens.

Tars watches Cooper head for the comm. station. He sits down to record a message. Awkward. Stuck. He dives in -

Hey, guys. I’m about settle down for the long nap, so I figured I’d send you an update ...

The Endurance slips away from the small blue planet ...

A line of dust slides across the shimmering horizon.

Donald watches two approaching vehicles kick up dust.

Donald recognizes Cooper’s truck ... Murph BURSTS out of the house -

Donald rises to meet the truck. Professor Brand gets out.

Silence. Professor Brand reaches into his briefcase.

He sent you a message -

Murph TURNS and goes back into the house. Donald takes a disc from Professor Brand.

Donald nods. Professor Brand looks up at the house.

Murph’s a bright spark. Maybe I could fan the flame.

Professor Brand smiles. Donald looks up into the blue.

Where are they?

The Endurance streaks away from Mars ...

The Endurance settles into an orbit around the ringed giant.

Cooper, blanket around his shoulders, watches a highly compressed video of Tom -

Tom makes way for Donald:

The video cuts out. Cooper gets up, puts a pair of EAR BUDS in his ears and heads into -

OMITTED

Cooper enters. Romilly is staring out the window.

Romilly looks at Cooper.

Cooper looks at him, sympathetic.

Romilly bangs on the side of the ship.

Romilly considers this. Cooper passes him his ear buds -

And the sounds of a THUNDERSTORM wash over Romilly, sounds that take us to ...

The Endurance is a tiny speck before the ringed gassy giant.

Cooper looks over Doyle’s shoulder - he’s flicking through images of star fields, distorted as if through a fish-eye lens.

Brand approaches.

Cooper straps in, peering out at the inky blackness past Saturn. Romilly joins him there, excited.

As the Endurance streaks past Saturn, it stops rotating, headed for a DISTORTED BLUR of stars.

He points at the SPHERICAL blur of stars.

Cooper stares at the wormhole as they approach: a massive spherical lens into another galaxy.

Romilly grabs a piece of paper, draws two points, far apart -

He pokes a hole in one point with his pen ...

So they say ’You wanna go from here to there but it’s too far? A wormhole bends space like this ...’

He folds the paper over and jams the pen through the second point, connecting them.

Cooper marvels at the concept. And at the looming sphere ...

And who put it here? Who do we thank?

OMITTED

As the Endurance SWINGS around the wormhole, the view of the foreign galaxy SWINGS in opposition, like an ENORMOUS SHAVING MIRROR ... it’s extremely disorienting.

The Endurance fires retro-thrusters to slow, descending towards the wormhole ...

Cooper is at the controls. Doyle is next to him.

Cooper stares down into the vast lens of the wormhole.

Everybody ready to say goodbye to our solar system?

Cooper pushes the sticks forward, nosing down and letting gravity PULL them towards the center of the wormhole ...

The Endurance reaches the surface of the wormhole. As it crosses the threshold it becomes apparent that THERE IS NO SURFACE ... the craft simply passes into the space of the distortion, its own warped reflection flickering towards it as if the ship were leaning into a giant shaving mirror ...

Cooper and Doyle stare at the distortion of space ahead ...

Brand and Romilly look out at reflections bordering the bulk - a space beyond our three dimensions ...

The Endurance moves through a TUNNEL OF DISTORTED REFLECTIONS, seeming to gather more and more dizzying speed, but getting no closer to the far mouth, as if on an accelerating treadmill -

Cooper, awestruck, checks his instruments -

Brand JUMPS - a shape in the air in front of her is BENDING, warping to form ripples in spacetime inside the cabin - Romilly STARES at the distortion -

Brand watches the distortion move towards her -

Brand is reaching out towards the warped space - it MOVES towards her, DISTORTING her hand - but Brand is not in pain ...

Cooper and Doyle watch the tunnel mouth STREAK towards them, a mass of stars and nebulae GROWING ...

The Endurance slides out of the wormhole.

Suddenly, the instruments are chirping -

Cooper and Doyle look out at the new galaxy ...

Brand’s hand is back to normal. She stares at her fingers.

Brand flexes her fingers, delighted.

The cosmos is more CROWDED here - STAR upon STAR, NEBULAE ...

Doyle calls up data on a workstation -

Doyle flicks through data -

Years of basic data - no real surprises. Miller’s site has kept pinging thumbs up, as has Mann ... but Edmunds went down, three years ago.

Doyle nods. Romilly is drawing on a whiteboard -

She’s coming up fast ... with one complication - the planet is much closer to Gargantua than we thought.

Cooper glances around the concerned faces -

Doyle steps up to the screen, points out three planets.

They look at each other, considering. Cooper turns to Romilly -

Romilly indicates a spot on his white board.

She smiles at him.

A black sphere sucking light from the cosmos, visible by its distorting effect on the light of stars behind it - squeezed into a GLOWING, CURVED HORIZON. The Endurance approaches.

Cooper looks out at Gargantua. Doyle peers over his shoulder

Brand points to a small glowing planet nearer the blackness.

Cooper turns to Case, the machine riding shotgun.

Cooper chuckles as he throws a final switch -

The Ranger DETACHES from the ring module, like an X-1 from a B-29, FIRES retro-thrusters to slow and ... DROPS -

The Ranger SHOOTS down towards Gargantua -

Cooper is in awe at their acceleration -

Romilly studies data, marveling.

Cooper looks down at the eerie blackness sliding beneath -

The Ranger looks tiny as it STREAKS over the blackness, high above the GLOWING HORIZON. It is approaching Miller’s planet, a gleaming dark-blue world ...

Cooper studies his trajectory.

The Ranger STREAKS down towards the planet. It starts to encounter the STRATOSPHERE -

The craft starts to HOWL and SHAKE. Cooper studies the curving horizon, concentrating -

Cooper squeezes the shaking controls with white knuckles -

The Ranger glows WHITE HOT, slicing through FLAT CLOUDS -

Cooper peers out at the razor-like layers of cloud -

Doyle looks at Brand, nervous. She takes a breath.

The Ranger CUTS through cloud formations, BURSTING out into CLEARER AIR, HIGH ABOVE AN ENDLESS OCEAN -

The crew peer at SPARKLING WATER, streaking below them -

Cooper BANKS sharply, eases down.

The Ranger is low now, kicking up backwash -

Cooper peers ahead -

Cooper YANKS the stick -

The Ranger’s retro-rockets FIRE - killing the craft’s speed just feet from the surface. Water SPRAYS UP as the Ranger SLEWS diagonally, gear is lowered, the Ranger drops, its landing gear holding it just above the shallow water.

Everyone BOUNCES with the impact. Then BREATHES.

Brand and Doyle hurry out of their harnesses, helmets on. Case moves to the hatch. With a CRACK, the hatch opens and LIGHT and SPRAY whip inside ...

Case climbs quickly from the craft, knee deep in the water. Brand and Doyle follow. Case TRACKS the beacon.

Brand and Doyle peer into the distance. Smooth, ankle-deep water to the horizon, where a distant MOUNTAIN RANGE LOOMS. They start splashing towards it in their heavy spacesuits ...

Cooper listens to their chatter, IMPATIENT.

Doyle falls behind. Brand pushes on. Ahead, Case stops.

Brand joins him, searching the shallows for some sign of Miller’s mission. She looks up, confused.

Case DROPS to his knees THRASHING under the water, like a bear fishing. Doyle arrives -

Cooper notices something. In the distance. The mountains -

Case WRENCHES a piece of DAMAGED EQUIPMENT from the sea bed.

Case starts lugging the beacon to the Ranger.

She starts moving fast towards some FLOATING OBJECTS.

Cooper is staring out at the horizon -

Brand pauses -

Brand looks closer - the ’mountains’ are moving, tiny lines of white sea spray are blowing from the tops ...

Cooper looks the other direction ... there is a MOUNTAIN WAVE BEARING DOWN ON THE SHIP ...

Brand is searching the wreckage -.

Doyle looks from Brand to Case, who is loading the beacon. Beyond him Doyle sees the mountain wave approaching -

Cooper hits the dash, frustrated.

Brand sloshes along, checking DEBRIS -

Case is back at Doyle.

Case takes off towards Brand, who is trying to lift a piece of equipment from the water. She drops it and moves on -

Cooper swings open the hatch, stands in the doorway, peering out at the approaching mountain waves - turns back to Brand -

Brand has pulled something heavy from the wreckage - she SLIPS, the wreckage PINNING her down ... She looks back at the Ranger - sees the mountain wave THOUSANDS OF FEET HIGH ALMOST UPON THEM -

Cooper looks at Case RACING towards her -

Case THROWS her onto his back and starts running. Doyle stands, mesmerized by the sheer liquid mountain face ...

Doyle turns, starts sloshing back, the water RUNNING against his ankles now ... Two hundred yards behind, Case POUNDS through the shallows, Brand on his back -

Cooper looks up at the EVER CLOSER MOUNTAIN WAVE - jumps inside.

Cooper powers up, as the wall of liquid fills his view.

He sees the water right upon them - RUNS back to the hatch. Doyle is at the foot of the ladder, Case RUNNING FAST.

Case JUMPS up the ladder, THROWS Brand inside - TURNS for Doyle. The Ranger TILTS, RISES - DOYLE IS RIPPED FROM CASE’S HAND - WATER RAGES ACROSS THE OPEN HATCH -

Case shuts the hatch. Cooper is throwing switches -

Doyle is DRAGGED under and away. The Ranger is SUCKED SIDEWAYS up the face of the mountain -

Brand and Cooper are thrown across the cockpit. Case GRABS Brand, pulls her into her seat - Cooper holds on as the craft ROLLS and ROLLS -

The Ranger reaches the top of the wave, rocks upright -

Cooper drops into his seat as the water pours off the canopy -

The Ranger tilts over the backside of the wave, SURFING for a second then PITCHING FORWARD - TUMBLING DOWN 8,000 FEET ...

They hang on for dear life, THRASHED MERCILESSLY -

The Ranger comes AGROUND as the wave leaves it behind ...

The craft comes to rest. Cooper jumps to the controls, powers up the electrics. The engines won’t respond -

The gear LIFTS the Ranger. Water FLOODS out -

Cooper tries the engines again. Nothing.

Quiet. Cooper looks down at the clock. Bitter.

How long to drain, Case?

Cooper shakes his head. Pulls his helmet off.

Cooper rubs his face. Mind reeling. Trying to breathe.

Case indicates the beacon.

Cooper takes this in. Breathes hard. Takes off his gloves.

Cooper takes this in. They’re in the same boat.

She shakes her head, dismissive.

Brand nods.

Could they be talking to us from the future?

Brand pulls her helmet off. Looks Cooper in the eyes.

Case is pointing out at another MOUNTAIN RANGE.

The mountain wave is approaching. Cooper tries the engines -

The rockets COUGH and steam ...

Cooper tries the engines again. Close. But no ignition.

The wave is upon them ...

Case hits a button - a HISS and SHRIEK of gas escaping ... Brand seals her helmet just as the cockpit DEPRESSURIZES -

Cooper hits the engines - they BLAST TO LIFE -

A fiery BLAST sends the Ranger clear of the mountain wave.

Down below, Doyle’s body lies in the shallows, about to be swept up into the next rush of water ...

Romilly watches as Cooper and Brand enter the Endurance.

Cooper’s head lowers.

Cooper turns away.

Brand’s eyes flicker down. She shakes her head. She grasps Romilly’s hands, looks up into his eyes, vulnerable -

Brand looks at Romilly’s wrinkles. His greying beard.

She looks up at Romilly, not wanting to ask ...

Romilly nods. Brand closes her eyes with relief.

Brand opens her eyes, looks for Cooper. He is in the comm. booth. He SHUTS the privacy curtain. She looks down.

Cooper studies the machine like it might bite him.

Cooper leans forward as the screen flickers to life: Tom, still seventeen, turns on the camera.

Cooper pauses it. Prepares himself. Lets it run -

Tom holds up a picture of himself and a teenage GIRL.

Murph stole Grandpa’s car. She crashed it - she’s okay, though. Your truck’s still running - Grandpa said she should steal that next time. I said if she did it’d be the last thing she did ...

Cooper leans back ...

Cooper is holed up, still watching, unshaved. He’s been watching for days. On the screen, Tom is in his twenties -

Tom holds up an infant wrapped tight in swaddling.

Congratulations. Meet Jesse.

Cooper smiles a tearful smile.

Grandpa said he already earned the ’great’ part so we just leave it at that.

The screen cuts out. Then comes back on. Tom in his thirties -

Hi, Dad. I’m sorry it’s been awhile. What with Jesse and all ...

He stops, emotional.

Grandpa died last week. We buried him out in the back forty, next to Mom and Jesse. (Looks down.) Where we’d have buried you, if you’d ever come back. (Looks up.) Murph was there for the funeral. I don’t see her so much anymore. (Sighs.) You’re not listening to this. I know that. All these messages are just out there, drifting in the darkness ... I figured as long as they were willing to send them there was some hope, but ...

(Pauses.) You’re gone. You’re never coming back. And I’ve known that for a long time. Lois says - that’s my wife, Dad - she says I have to let you go. So I am. (Reaches up to turn off camera.) Wherever you are, I hope you’re at peace. Goodbye, Dad.

The screen goes black. Tears are streaming down Cooper’s face. He stares at the black screen, wiping his face. He starts to get up - the screen flickers to life once more -

A beautiful WOMAN of about forty has turned on the camera - she looks at us, unsure about this. Makes a start -

Cooper peers into the face, recognizing -

She stops, unable to speak for a second.

Murph reaches up, switches off the camera and we stay with her in -

Murph brings her hand down from the camera. Wipes her tears.

Murph turns to see Professor Brand, now ELDERLY, in a WHEELCHAIR in the doorway.

Murph rises -

Murph wheels Professor Brand out into the corridor.

Murph pushes Professor Brand.

Professor Brand wheels behind his desk.

She watches his introspection. Brings him back with -

Murph has picked up a notebook. Pauses.

She shrugs. Starts to work.

Murph and Professor Brand sit, eating sandwiches on a walkway. WORKERS move about the CIRCULAR CHAMBER, building more SIDEWAYS INFRASTRUCTURE. Professor Brand looks down, proud.

Murph stands before the algebra. She REALIZES something.

CONVINCED, she TURNS -

Professor, the equation ...?

He looks up.

For years we’ve tried to solve it without changing the underlying assumptions about time -

Murph focuses on Professor Brand, suddenly WARY ...

... and I don’t understand why.

Professor Brand looks down. Starts wheeling his chair.

Murph nods. Looking at the Professor. Confused.

Brand watches her father on screen.

Romilly, Brand, Cooper, Tars and Case sit in discussion.

Cooper puts both planets on screen - Dr Mann’s ice world, and Edmunds’ desert planet.

Brand is silent. Romilly looks from Brand to Cooper.

She says nothing.

He has a right to know.

Brand looks at Romilly, who can’t meet her eye.

Cooper thinks back to his conversation with Donald.

Romilly looks at Brand. It’s clear she’s lost.

Brand is starting to tear up. She turns away.

The thrusters FIRE, pushing the Endurance out of its orbit of Gargantua.

Brand is checking her POPULATION BOMB. Cooper enters.

Brand turns from her equipment. Looks him in the eye.

She closes the population bomb.

You might have to decide between seeing your children again ... and the future of the human race. (Smiles bitterly.) (MORE)

The Endurance sinks past a GLORIOUS NEBULA whose GOLDEN MISTS DISSOLVE TO ROILING BLACK CLOUDS and we are -

Murph stands with Tom, now late forties. Watching a field BURN.

Tom glances at her. Don’t ask. Heads for the house.

Murph at family dinner with Tom, LOIS, and their six-year-old son COOP.

Murph looks down, awkward ...

Murph looks upstairs. At Lois.

Too many memories, Lois.

She nods. Coop helps Tom clear. As Coop takes Murph’s plate he starts COUGHING. Looks up at her, sees her concern, GRINS.

He and Tom head into the kitchen.

She nods, is about to speak. Tom sits back down.

Pull back to reveal the glowing windows against the darkening plain, dust clouds rolling across the horizon ...

Murph hurries down a corridor with a doctor, GETTY.

Murph is at Professor Brand’s bedside. He is hooked up to machines. Barely breathing.

Murph takes his hand with gentle concern.

Professor Brand looks up into Murph’s eyes, tears welling.

Murph looks at Professor Brand, confused.

But Professor Brand slowly shakes his head, tears rolling down. As Murph tries to comprehend, he settles, DRIFTING.

Nothing.

Did my dad know?!

Nothing.

Did he abandon me?!

She leans in to hear.

Getty is at her shoulder.

Getty puts his hand on her shoulder. She sits there. Stuck. As Professor Brand goes still ...

Murph, controlled anger, sits in front of the camera.

MURPH

He had no pain and was ... at peace. I’m sorry for your loss.

She reaches to switch off the camera. STOPS. Acid.

Did you know, Brand? Did he tell you ...?

Murph’s voice rings through the empty ship. Only Case there to register it.

Through the window we see the Ranger moving away, towards -

The Endurance orbits the silvery white globe as the Ranger heads towards the planet.

The Ranger drops through layers of large, MOUNTAINOUS CLOUD.

Cooper and Tars, Brand and Romilly. Cooper peers out, concerned, studying a heads-up display of CLOUD DENSITY ...

The Ranger cuts through one cloud, banks left and SCRAPES AGAINST THE NEXT ’CLOUD’, PANELS TEARING FROM THE WING - THE CLOUDS ARE ACTUALLY SOLID ICE FORMATIONS ...

Cooper banks away from the ICE, glancing out at the damage -

The Ranger moves cautiously through the ’cloudscape’ like a ship through an ice field ...

Romilly and Brand put their helmets on. Tars indicates the beacon’s position. Cooper looks, BANKS the Ranger.

The Ranger’s gear lowers as it comes to rest, tentatively, at the base of what looks like a large CUMULUS CLOUD.

Cooper leads them up the ICE CLOUD. From a distance, they are walking on a cloud. Tars brings up the rear.

Cooper crests a ridge. SPOTS something. He starts down towards a dirty orange dot in the cloudscape.

Cooper is there. The others arrive at the large metal pod - WEATHERED and DAMAGED over the years, half buried in ice. Nearby, various WIRE MARKERS stick out of the ice. Tars starts digging out the hatch.

A CRACK of COLD LIGHT, as the outer hatch is wrenched open. Cooper steps through the airlock, into a CRYPT-LIKE SPACE -

Cooper’s hand sweeps ice from the nameplate of a cryo-chamber, ’DR MANN’.

Tars fires up the cryo-chamber. The ice starts to melt.

Cooper, helmet off, CRACKS the lid, pushes it back, revealing a figure in a plastic shroud. Cooper rips the seal ...

Dr Mann’s eyes flicker open. He watches Cooper, breathing, focusing - reaches up with TREMBLING hands - GRABS Cooper - PULLS himself up, CHEEK AGAINST CHEEK - SOBBING - hands desperately CARESSING Cooper’s face. Cooper holds him tight.

Dr Mann sits, blanket over his shoulders, sipping from a steaming cup. He looks at their faces, marveling.

This hits Dr Mann hard. He looks down at his tea.

Dr Mann leads the others up to the summit of a cloud.

From the top, they watch the planet’s pale sun setting.

They make their way back into the shelter.

Brand checks readings on Dr Mann’s instruments.

The crew are captivated by Dr Mann ...

Brand is reviewing Dr Mann’s piles of data.

Dr Mann indicates a DEFUNCT ARTICULATED MACHINE.

Tars turns to Brand.

She nods.

Brand watches Murph’s message on Tars’ data screen.

Brand STARES. Cooper is there. Murph reaches up -

Cooper nods.

She’s become a -

Cooper looks at Brand, who is shocked.

You left us here to set up your colony. Never coming back ...

Murph does not want to ask, tears are running down her cheeks -

(Small.) Did my father know? Dad ...?

Cooper stares. Murph’s eyes bore into his ...

Did you leave me here to die?

The screen goes dark. Cooper stands there, SHOCKED.

They turn. Dr Mann looks at them with gentle calm.

Dr Mann comes over, looks into Brand’s eyes.

Cooper REELS. Brand puts her hand on his shoulder -

He turns to her. Looks her in the eyes.

And the sound of WIND in DRY CORNSTALKS takes us -

Murph drives. Getty next to her. In the distance, several fields BURN.

Murph points at the sky.

They pass vehicles PILED HIGH with belongings and people.

A DUST STORM SWAMPS the truck, killing visibility. Murph pulls over. Kills the engine. The wind rocks the car.

Getty looks at her as she STARES out at the dust.

INSERT CUT: MURPH (TEN), wet hair, towel around neck, turns and STARES at a book on the floor -

She stoops to pick up the toy next to it - a broken LUNAR LANDER.

INSERT CUT: MURPH (TEN) counts the books and gaps. MARVELING.

MURPH (FORTY) turns to Getty.

The storm is clearing. Murph starts the engine.

If there’s an answer here on Earth, it’s back there, somehow. No one’s coming to save us. (Pulls out.) I have to find it ...

Murph pulls past a pickup piled with worldly goods and people. She makes eye contact with two filthy kids in the back ...

And we’re running out of time.

Tars is up on the wing of the Ranger. Case pilots the LANDER in to land near the Ranger.

Cooper is sitting with his feet on the console.

Romilly comes through the airlock. Removes his helmet.

Tars enters.

Romilly looks from Tars to Cooper, sheepish.

Bing. The light flashes on.

Brand and Dr Mann approach Cooper and Romilly at the foot of the ladder. Cooper addresses Brand -

Dr Mann considers this. Looks at Tars. At Romilly.

Dr Mann considers this. Nods.

Cooper glances around at the winds picking up -

Cooper reaches up to check a box plugged in at his neck.

Dr Mann points at a nozzle on his elbow -

Cooper checks, thumbs up. Dr Mann sets off, Cooper follows.

As Cooper follows Dr Mann down a ridge, they see the lander fly over. Cooper waves, reaches up to his long-range transmitter -

Cooper follows Dr Mann down to the edge of the ice. They peer down a fifty-foot drop.

He steps off, DROPPING - his ELBOW JETS FIRE, slowing his descent in time for him to land with a THUD. Cooper follows.

They set out through a massive CANYON of ice ...

Cooper STOPS.

He turns and starts walking. Cooper follows.

The wind WHIPS ice crystals between them ...

Murph introduces Getty to Lois and Coop. Getty pulls out a STETHOSCOPE and starts examining Coop, Murph slips upstairs ...

Murph opens the door. Stands in her old bedroom. Feeling ...

Murph turns to see Coop. He points at a box on the shelf -

I don’t touch your stuff.

Brand turns away as the lander touches down in a spray of ice.

Romilly watches Tars crouch down beside Kipp and connect Kipp to his own power. Kipp shows signs of life ...

Dr Mann waits for Cooper catch up. The WIND is picking up -

Dr Mann pauses to take a breath. Turns to Cooper.

Take you - a father. With a survival instinct that extends to your kids ...

Dr Mann turns and starts walking out onto a massive ice field.

Murph brings Coop downstairs. Getty is listening to Lois’ back. He looks up at Murph. GRAVE. Shakes his head ...

Murph turns to see Tom in the doorway.

What is this ...?

Brand is counting flight cases when a WIND whips ice at her ...

Romilly takes his helmet off, PEERING over Tars’ shoulder at Kipp’s data screen. Confused.

Cooper and Dr Mann are like two ants on a sheet.

Cooper peers ahead to an OPENING in the ice. Dr Mann stops at the edge. Looks around the wind-blasted ice plane.

When I left Earth I felt fully prepared to die. But I just never faced the possibility that my planet wouldn’t be the one. None of this turned out the way it was supposed to.

Cooper peers over the edge at an enormous CREVASSE ...

Dr Mann RIPS COOPER’S LONG-RANGE TRANSMITTER FROM HIS NECK -

Cooper TURNS to Dr Mann - who BLASTS him with his ELBOW JET. He SLIPS backwards, but avoids going over the edge -

Until Dr Mann KICKS him. Cooper hits his jets, pushing himself onto a lower ledge of ice -

Tom confronts Murph while Getty looks on -

Tom TURNS, PUNCHES Getty - who collapses.

Cooper SCRAMBLES to his knees. Dr Mann approaches -

Cooper’s mind races. He looks around.

Dr Mann KICKS Cooper over the edge, Cooper CLINGS on -

Cooper BLASTS Dr Mann off his feet with his jet - SCRAMBLES up onto the ice. Dr Mann TACKLES him, they go down, WRESTLING. WIDER shows us two TINY FIGURES in a VAST LANDSCAPE, deciding the future of humanity with a BRAWL ...

Murph begs Tom -

Murph looks around, frustrated. Coop hands Murph the box.

She leaves. Getty follows.

Dr Mann LUNGES at Cooper, who SIDESTEPS him and PINS him ...

Dr Mann HEADBUTTS COOPER, FACEPLATE IMPACTS FACEPLATE.

CRACK. Dr Mann SMASHES his helmet into Cooper’s AGAIN AND AGAIN as he -

Dr Mann STOPS. Looks up at Cooper, BREATHING. Both faceplates have TINY FRACTURES ...

WHACK - He BUTTS Cooper’s faceplate, which CRACKS SICKENINGLY. AMMONIA HISSES INSIDE - COOPER ROLLS OFF, HANDS UP, DESPERATELY TRYING TO PLUG THE LARGE CRACK -

Dr Mann RISES. Checks the fractures in his own helmet. Bends down to look at Cooper, STRUGGLING, CHOKING -

Murph drives. Getty looks over, sympathetic.

She just stares ahead at the road ...

With curiosity and FEAR, Dr Mann watches Cooper CRAWL ...

Unable to watch any more, he RISES, walking away, continuing to talk to Cooper via the radio ...

Dr Mann, hurrying away, listens to Cooper RASPING -

Dr Mann hauls himself up a ledge. The wind WHIPS up ice.

Cooper FREEZES. REMEMBERS. TRANSMITTER ...

Cooper LOOKS around - on the ice ten feet away - the TRANSMITTER -

Murph and Getty drive past a long line of DESPERATE REFUGEES - glimpsing FACES hardened against insurmountable odds ...

Cooper CRAWLS - CRAWLS - CHOKING - CRAWLING ...

Dr Mann leap/jets up onto the higher ice - glances back at the floundering figure on the ice with pity and awe.

Dr Mann hears only CHOKING, GASPING, HACKING. He kills his radio. Scared. Watches Cooper’s silent thrashing. TURNS.

Cooper GRABS the transmitter - tries to calm his FRANTIC HANDS - can’t reconnect it with clumsy gloves - pulls glove off - FREEZING - BITING - WAKING - he gets the connector IN -

Brand is STARTLED by Cooper’s RASPING over her radio -

Murph DECIDES - she SPINS the truck around - floors it back in the direction they came ...

Brand JUMPS into the lander -

Case is already FIRING engines -

Cooper GASPS -

Murph PULLS off the road, CUTTING through the corn -

The lander HURTLES through the cloudscape, RECKLESSLY, DANGEROUSLY FAST, PUNCHING through some clouds, DODGING others -.

Brand watches Case fly, praying he’s not just guessing -

Romilly is crouched next to Tars, perturbed.

Murph PULLS UP in a SCREECH of dust - jumps out - GRABS her spare gas can, THROWING FUEL over the nearby stalks ...

Cooper FLOPS back onto the ice, STARING SKYWARD ...

INSERT CUT: MURPH (TEN) examines the WATCH Cooper has given her ... She THROWS it - turns her tear-stained face to Cooper - Cooper’s eyes water, from poison or memory -

Murph SETS FIRE to the corn ... JUMPS in the truck -

The lander SWEEPS around a towering cumulus, SPIRALING in on the ICE PLAIN -

Brand POINTS -

Tom RACES out of the house, JUMPS in Cooper’s old truck, heading out to the fire ... calling on the radio -

Through WATERING EYES and WIND-WHIPPED ICE, Cooper glimpses Brand LEAPING from the lander, elbow jets firing. Brand RIPS Cooper’s helmet off - THRUSTS an OXYGEN MASK over his nose and mouth. Cooper GASPS, SUCKING AIR HARD -

Cooper nods. Brand takes this in - REALIZES -

Romilly!

She keys her long-range transmitter -

Romilly?! Romilly?!

Tars turns back from Kipp.

Tars makes way for Romilly, who leans in to the screen. He glances at his helmet - the radio is SQUAWKING. As he reaches for his helmet, he places his hand on the screen - Kipp FLICKERS TO LIFE ... Romilly lifts his helmet -

Kipp LOOKS UP -

And EXPLODES -

Dr Mann hears the explosion - sees a BLACK CLOUD rising from up the hill. PANIC-STRICKEN -

He switches his radio back on -

Dr Mann THINKS - makes for the Ranger.

Brand pulls the mask off Cooper, who looks at Case -

Murph SCREECHES up - turns to Getty -

She runs towards the farmhouse.

Lois!

Case spots something on the console.

Case puts the lander into the air.

Dr Mann straps in. Powers up.

The Ranger RISES -

Dr Mann pushes the craft into the air -

The lander comes through the black smoke from Dr Mann’s pod.

Below - a figure BURSTS out of the smoke: Tars, blackened, burned, but RUNNING ... towards the lander -

Case SWINGS the lander around and HITS the airlock open -

Tars LEAPS UP into the airlock - the lander THRUSTS away -

Cooper looks over at Case -

Lois and Coop head outside with a few essentials. Murph heads upstairs ...

Getty helps them into the truck, glances nervously at the distant fire -

The Ranger ROCKETS upwards ...

Cooper moves up next to Case. Hits the transmitter -

Cooper looks into the airlock -

Cooper hits the transmitter -

Dr Mann hears Cooper. Ignores him - looking instead at the navigation computer.

Dr Mann switches off the transmitter -

Murph looks at the bookshelves. Spots the box. Moves over to it and LOOKS INSIDE ...

Outside, Getty paces, Lois and Coop sit tight ...

The Ranger approaches the Endurance ...

Dr Mann pilots the lander alongside the ship. Hits the autopilot -

Dr Mann looks at the screen, surprised.

Dr Mann thinks. Looks over at the MANUAL DOCKING CONTROLS ...

Cooper peers ahead as they SHOOT up into orbit. Brand looks - the Ranger is in close to the Endurance -

Static.

Dr Mann SCRAMBLES from the controls to the airlock, FOCUSED ...

The Ranger inches closer to an OUTER HATCH of Endurance - A ROW OF MECHANICAL GRAPPLES tries to connect with Endurance -

Dr Mann works the docking system, concentrating -

The grapples PULL the Ranger into the Endurance hatch.

A CLANG as the ships come together -

Dr Mann moves to the airlock control ...

Cooper stares out at the Ranger -

Cooper grabs the transmitter -

In SILENCE Dr Mann looks through the hatch window. Hits the button opening the outer door -

The outer door of the Ranger SLIDES OPEN. Several grapples are OPENING AND CLOSING BLINDLY, trying to seal the join -

Cooper looks at Case -

Case hits the retro-thrusters.

Silence. Dr Mann takes a breath, reaches for the inner lever -

Dr Mann is STARTLED by the voice. He hits the transmitter -

Turns back to the lever ... PULLS IT -

A DEVASTATING RUSH OF AIR YANKS HIM INTO THE AIRLOCK -

The ESCAPING AIR AND DEBRIS push Endurance into a slow SPIN ...

Dr Mann is HAMMERED by debris as the airlock starts to RIP APART -

The ship SPINS FASTER AND FASTER - the Ranger is RIPPED AWAY, FRAGMENTING, SHREDDING THE CLOSEST MODULE OF THE RING.

They STARE in HORROR as their ship is sent SPINNING OFF ITS ORBIT TOWARDS THE PLANET -

Cooper GRABS the sticks - HITS the thrusters -

The CRIPPLED Endurance is in a FAST FLAT SPIN, heading down towards the stratosphere -

The lander FLIES after it, DODGING the Ranger debris -

Cooper’s eyes are glued to the Endurance as he flies -

The DIZZYING SPIN of the Endurance as it PLUMMETS towards the ATMOSPHERE - The lander ROCKETS after it, CLOSING SLOWLY -

Cooper pours on the power -

The SPINNING ENDURANCE starts to encounter the STRATOSPHERE - heating up -

Brand looks ahead at the spinning ship -

Cooper checks the lander’s speed against Endurance - pulls back on thrust as they come in below it -

The lander is PERILOUSLY CLOSE to the RED HOT UNDERSIDE of the SPINNING ENDURANCE. The lander BANKS sideways, bringing its airlock within FEET of the spinning Endurance -

Cooper looks sideways at the spinning hull -

Cooper watches the spinning hull, suddenly UNCERTAIN -

Case hits the RETRO-THRUSTERS. The view SPINS -

The lander goes into a FASTER AND FASTER SPIN as it, with Endurance, PLUMMETS towards the planet -

LIGHT FLASHES across their faces as the G-force of the spin PULLS THEM AGAINST THEIR RESTRAINTS. Cooper STRUGGLES to stay conscious - they BUFFET AGAINST THE ATMOSPHERE -

Tars opens the airlock - the Endurance hatch above him is now SLOWLY ROTATING relative to him ...

The GLOWING HOT Endurance and the lander PLUMMET, SPINNING towards the ice planet, whose curvature is FAST DISAPPEARING -

Tars peers up as THE SPIN SPEEDS MATCH. He waits as the BUFFETING moves the hatches ... THEY LINE UP - he FIRES the GRAPPLES - they don’t connect - the hatches moved -

Brand loses consciousness - Cooper watches the instruments, not the dizzying view, on the point of RED OUT -

Tars sees the hatches roll back into ALIGNMENT. He FIRES AGAIN - this time THE GRAPPLES HOLD -

Cooper registers this. Case fires the retro-rockets to slow the spin.

The two craft, NOW JOINED, start to spin more SLOWLY ...

Cooper eases back into his seat as the G-force lessens -

The spin is slowing to almost nothing -

Parts are RIPPING off the Endurance in the HEAT -

Cooper EASES into POWER on the main thrusters -

The THRUSTERS on the lander start to DRAG both ships back up away from the planet, the heat DIMINISHING -

Cooper pulls back on the sticks, RELIEF washing over him. Brand comes to ... Cooper turns to Case, grinning -

Cooper’s smile fades. He UNBUCKLES -

HISSING STEAM - RUSHING AIR - WHIRLING DEBRIS as Tars and Cooper (in suit and helmet) lock down different BULKHEADS -

Brand (in suit and helmet) FLOATS alongside the POPULATION BOMB, checking the equipment -

Cooper FLIES over to Tars, who is welding a bulkhead -

Cooper SCRAMBLES to where Brand is checking her equipment.

They embrace, delicately touching faceplate to faceplate.

The CRIPPLED Endurance FALLS towards the HEART OF DARKNESS among the stars ...

Cooper looks ahead at Gargantua. Preparing for battle.

The lander DETACHES, shifting its orientation ...

The lander REATTACHES to the rear of the ring module.

Cooper slides into Ranger 2 - checking the systems.

Tars sits at the controls, running similar checks ...

Brand and Case listen to Cooper and Tars over the radio.

Cooper puts his hands on the controls -

Brand is furious -

Tars sits at the controls, ready.

Brand considers this.

The Endurance ACCELERATES towards the darkness ...

The black hole’s gravity makes the ship SHUDDER ... Brand, helmet on, tightens her harness ...

The Endurance STREAKS above the glowing horizon, SKIRTING the BLACKNESS beneath ...

Tars looks out at the DARK OCEAN ...

The ship orbits the black hole with BLINDING ACCELERATION -

The ship is SHAKING with GRAVITATIONAL ENERGY ...

Tars checks his instruments -

Cooper checks his instruments -

Brand looks out at the glowing horizon. Glances fearfully at the darkness below ... Case puts his hand on the button -

Case hits the button -

The MAIN ENGINES FIRE - STRAINING AGAINST GARGANTUA ...

Brand feels the thrusters STRAIN to lift the craft -

Tars hits the button -

Lander 1’s engines FIRE, adding to the thrust. The Endurance starts RISING away from the darkness ...

Cooper hits the button -

Ranger 2’s engines add a fresh BLAST of fire, pushing the Endurance higher and higher ... back into the starlight ...

Cooper, shaking with the thrust, looks at his instruments -

Brand holds on tight -

Lander 1’s engines DIE OUT ...

Brand looks over at the lander -

Tars hits a switch -

Brand sees Lander 1 DROP, revealing Cooper in Ranger 2 ...

Something in this makes Brand frown, PUZZLED ...

Lander 1 FALLS behind as the Endurance continues to RISE ...

Cooper checks his dwindling fuel supply ...

As Lander 1 FALLS back towards Gargantua, Ranger 2’s engines DIE OUT ...

Case registers the burnout.

Brand looks up, SHOCKED -

She UNBUCKLES -

FLIES to the window looking onto Cooper -

Cooper looks across at Brand.

Brand pushes her helmet up against the window,

Cooper looks at her, fondly -

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 -.

Ranger 2 DROPS AWAY from the Endurance ...

Cooper sees the Endurance ACCELERATE AWAY to a bright point as he FALLS AND FALLS ... Cooper starts to breathe FASTER -

Ranger 2 PLUMMETS towards blackness as the horizon GLOWS BRIGHTER and BRIGHTER - distorted starlight, plasma jets ...

Cooper, trying to control his breathing, uses retro-rockets to TURN the lander down. He GASPS at the FLAMING HORIZON -

STATIC - Ranger 2 TILTS down - INKY BLACKNESS ahead -

Brand, crying, monitors Cooper’s lonely transmissions ...

Ranger 2 PLUNGES towards the black hole. We hear Cooper’s panic breathing get LOUDER and LOUDER until -

Ranger 2 SHUDDERS with EXPONENTIALLY RISING GRAVITATIONAL ENERGY as it CROSSES THE HORIZON - PLUNGING TOWARDS THE SINGULARITY - ALL WAVELENGTHS OF LIGHT CASCADING WITH HIM -

AS WE -

PLUNGE INTO ABSOLUTE ...

WHITE -

Not a whiteout - a SHIMMERING CAVALCADE OF ALL WAVELENGTHS: LIGHT, SOUND, EVERYTHING ... the SPHERICAL INSIDE OF THE BLACK HOLE, like a STAR turned INSIDE OUT. COOPER IS SCREAMING and we CUT to -

BURNING CORN - men fighting a fire, Tom leading, GESTURING -

Murph (forty) sits on the bed, looking into the BOX. She pulls out the LUNAR LANDER MODEL, looks up at the books ...

A BLACK DOT appears, RUSHING TOWARDS US to become - A DARK SPHERE - we PLUNGE through it into SILENT DARKNESS - a WHITE SPHERE races towards us -

Just as the wormhole was a spherical hole, THESE SPHERES ARE HOLES WITHIN HOLES ... we are dropping through A FOUR-DIMENSIONAL RABBIT HOLE - LIGHT/DARK/LIGHT/DARK/LIGHT/DARK with BLINDING RAPIDITY - the frequency almost SPEAKING. Cooper hangs on for dear life -

Cooper is LAUNCHED out of Ranger 2, which EXPLODES, and, PULLED to one side, MISSES A WHITE HOLE - PLUNGING INSTEAD TOWARDS A SMALLER GLASS-LIKE SPHERE -

Cooper slows as he falls towards this sphere, reminiscent of the wormhole, but the light within is not stars but an infinity of WORLD LINES - (paths of objects through spacetime) -

Cooper PLUNGES INTO THE WORLD SPHERE ... As he falls his SINGLE WORLD LINE stretches behind him - the INFINITE FUTURES OF HIS WORLD LINE splitting ahead to all the different possibilities in spacetime -

Cooper himself is now like a ring being pulled down a cone of fabric. He STARES at the ORDERED CHAOS of world lines ...

As he SLOWS his past and future world lines BREAK UP so they become like INFINITE REFLECTIONS IN PARALLEL MIRRORS ...

Cooper’s world line DROPS into a SMALL, SQUARE TUNNEL -

Tight enough to feel BLINDINGLY FAST at first, but Cooper (and his INFINITE OTHERS) is actually SLOWING ... Cooper DESPERATELY reaches out, KNOCKING the sides of the tunnel, TRYING to slow himself - GRAPPLING - KICKING ’BRICKS’ out of

the ’walls’. He finally STOPS. Looks around in the SUDDEN CALM, FLOATING, catching his breath. He reaches out to the tunnel wall - CONFUSED -

Each ’brick’ is TIGHTLY PACKED PAPER ... PAGES ... BOOKS - AS SEEN FROM BEHIND A SHELF ...

Cooper PUSHES against a book - it MOVES SLIGHTLY. Cooper PUSHES, HARDER AND HARDER AND HARDER -

The book drops out of sight, revealing -

Murph, aged ten, wet hair, towel around her neck, TURNS, STARTLED by THE BOOK FALLING FROM HER SHELF.

She can’t hear him ...

Murph (ten) stands there, startled, STARING at the bookshelves. At the book on the floor, a broken toy beside it ...

Murph (forty) looks at the bookshelves, REMEMBERING ...

Cooper watches Murph (ten) cautiously approach - she CROUCHES. Picks something up -

Murph (forty) turns the lunar lander in her hands. Thinking.

Murph (ten) stands up holding the broken LUNAR LANDER ...

Cooper watches Murph (ten) examine the two pieces of the LUNAR LANDER MODEL -

She turns ... leaves the room ... Cooper floats there, staring. He LOOKS around - each ’wall’ of the tesseract is a different view of Murph’s bedroom, so that by rotating he can effectively orbit her room ...

He claws his way down to the next book wall. PUNCHES out two books -

Murph’s bedroom, empty. The door opens, Cooper’s EARLIER SELF is standing there, staring at the room, perturbed. Murph (ten) joins Cooper, staring at the empty room ...

Cooper LASHES out at the books - kicks a book out - SPOTS -

Murph (ten) closes her door, crying, sliding the desk in front -

Murph (forty) feels the desk. She puts her hand on the back of the chair, tilts it slightly, remembering -

Cooper watches Murph (ten) put A CHAIR ON TOP OF THE DESK. The earlier Cooper nudges the door open -

Murph (ten) sees the door NUDGING against the desk and chair -

Cooper, the frustrated observer, spins around to see his EARLIER SELF nudging the door -

His Earlier Self shuts the door ...

Cooper PUNCHES OUT books with all his strength -

Murph (ten) is watching, no longer scared, fascinated -

Cooper STOPS. Catches his breath. Waits ...

Earlier Cooper lifts the chair off the table to enter.

Cooper watches his earlier self, FRUSTRATED -

As before, Cooper gives Murph the WATCH ... Murph THROWS THE WATCH and TURNS AWAY ...

Murph (forty) picks up the notebook. Opens it. Finds the word ’STAY’ ... looks up at the books, REALIZING ...

Cooper is crying with frustration ...

Cooper watches as his earlier self heads to the door -

Cooper SMASHES a book from the shelf with all his might -

His earlier self turns back. Looks at the book. Then leaves.

Cooper rests his head against the books, SOBBING.

Murph (forty) lowers her notebook, moves to the bookshelves, IN AWE ...

She is crying. Joyful.

Cooper sobs at the back of the books. Lost ...

Cooper, STARTLED, turns. Tars is not there.

Cooper looks around the infinite tunnel, infinite Coopers.

Cooper THINKS ... He pulls himself up to a different wall, starts counting books ...

And you have the quantum data, now -

Cooper HITS a book’s world line, sending a WAVE ...

Murph (forty) stands there, looking at her old notebook - the page that says ’STAY’ ...

She looks around the room, SEARCHING for an answer ...

Cooper watches Murph (ten) looking out the window ...

Cooper is seized by a sudden anger -

Cooper hears something in this -

Cooper PUSHES off, looking through the gaps in the books. Murph’s bedroom, full of DUST in the DUST STORM -

Cooper is in the room now, drawing a pattern in the dust ...

Cooper watches Murph (ten) burst into the room. Murph stops and stares at the dust as Cooper’s Earlier Self comes in past her, SLAMS the window shut - sees the PATTERN of dust ...

Murph (forty) runs her finger along the DUST of the windowsill ... She turns to look around the room. Frustrated.

Cooper looks up from the floor -

Cooper moves to another iteration of Murph’s room. Murph (ten) JUMPS up - GRABS the WATCH, RUNS out the door ...

Murph (forty) looks at the watch, remembering. The second hand TWITCHES. She drops the watch back into the box ...

Cooper pushes himself along the world line of the books ...

Murph (ten) comes back into her bedroom, SOBBING. She is holding the watch. She puts it on the shelf.

Murph (forty) puts the box back on the shelf. SIGHS ...

Cooper races FASTER and FASTER down the world lines.

Cooper gestures at the INFINITIES in all directions ...

Cooper looks around the tesseract. The watch sits there on the shelf for as long as he can see ...

Tars starts to transmit. Cooper GRABS the second-hand world line - starts to MANIPULATE it, sending waves down the world line ...

The second hand is FLICKING back and forth ...

Murph (forty) turns to leave ...

She pauses. Goes back to the box - reaches in. PULLS OUT THE WATCH ... staring at it ... wondering ...

Getty is holding a tire iron, watching TOM’S TRUCK APPROACH. Lois and Coop STARE, FEARFUL, from the truck ...

Tom APPROACHES, BLACK from soot ...

Murph BURSTS out of the house ... right up to Tom ...

She holds up the watch ...

CLOSE ON the second hand of the watch, FLICKING back and forth -

Murph furiously TRANSCRIBES the movements of the second hand -

Murph, papers in hand, RUNS down the corridor, BUMPS into Getty - doesn’t stop ...

Murph runs to the railing of the catwalk above the enormous construction, looks down at the thousands of workers below. Getty comes out after her, curious. She looks at him, then SHOUTS OUT to the enormous space ...

She turns to Getty - GRINNING.

Well, it’s traditional.

She THROWS her paper out over the railing -

EUREKA!!

Workers look up to see her papers flitting down ...

Cooper looks out at the world line of the watch, of Murph, as it leads out into infinite complexity ...

Cooper looks out to the distance - it is RAPIDLY APPROACHING, WORLD LINES BECOMING WORLD SHEETS, BECOMING BULKS ...

The tesseract EXPANSION BACK INTO FIVE DIMENSIONS IS ALMOST UPON THEM - Cooper BRACES HIMSELF -

BAM - he is swept up in the expansion like a tiny leaf on a CHURNING WAVE -

Cooper FLIES through the EXPANDING COSMOS, past PLANETS ORBITING STARS, WHICH BECOME ATOMIC PARTICLES, WHICH BECOME MATTER, BECOMING STARS ...

Cooper APPROACHES A GLASSY TUBE. Inside is the OLD, UNDAMAGED ENDURANCE. As Cooper looks in from the bulk he sees: Brand, strapped in, Doyle opposite, traversing the wormhole for the first time ...

Cooper REACHES for Brand ... She sees something, reaches up - their hands would touch if they weren’t in different dimensions, her fingers distorting the space of his fingers -

WHAM! She, and the Endurance, are SWEPT PAST - Cooper is SMASHED into the spacetime of the wormhole - he SCREAMS AND WE -

Cooper FLOATS, dead or unconscious, near Saturn. In the distance we see two Rangers approaching ...

Cooper’s eyes flicker open. A bright room with an open window, net curtains obscuring the view. We hear the CRACK of a baseball off a bat. Children LAUGHING.

VOICE (O.S.) Mr Cooper? Mr Cooper?

Cooper looks over to see a Nurse and a Doctor watching him. He tries to sit up.

The Doctor, almost surprised, TURNS, moves to the window, opens the curtains. Where Cooper should see sky, he sees a CURVING UPSIDE-DOWN TOWN ...

The Nurse helps Cooper to the window. He looks out at the VAST CYLINDRICAL STATION - cornfields and buildings. Outside his window, kids are playing baseball. The batter hits a POP FLY ... the kids watch it up and up, until it carries on, falling up towards the buildings above. The kids SHOUT a warning - the ball smashes a skylight. Cooper watches the kids laugh.

The Nurse giggles. The Doctor shoots her a look -

What?

Cooper smiles at this ...

The Doctor is wrapping up -

Cooper turns back to the window, thinking ...

The ADMINISTRATOR, thirties, leads Cooper along a walkway -

Cooper looks down at a line of SLEEK NEXT-GENERATION RANGERS. Sees a PILOT climb into one. Mechanics work another ...

Cooper looks at the strangely ordinary town the Administrator is walking him through ...

The Adminstrator leads Cooper through a cornfield ... The old farmhouse is there, preserved. As Cooper approaches, a small monitor starts playing the footage of OLD-TIMERS from the start of the movie.

As Cooper passes the monitor it changes to a FAMILIAR OLD LADY, but Cooper misses it ...

OLD-TIMERS play on video screens: a museum exhibit. The Administrator holds the door open for Cooper.

Cooper looks over the kitchen. Cooper sees a familiar-looking articulated machine -

Cooper turns to the Administrator.

Cooper, from the catwalk, watches the last of the Rangers come back from patrol. The PILOT jumps down as the ground crew wheels it into its place in the line of sleek ships.

Cooper has Tars’ head laid out on the kitchen table.

Cooper enters, nervous. A nurse is there.

Cooper cautiously pushes open the door. The bed is surrounded by people, grown-up children, grandchildren, babies ... They turn to look at him: some SMILES, some CURIOUS looks, a small child HIDES behind a parent’s leg ...

Cooper approaches, and the family parts to let him see an ELDERLY WOMAN, lying in the bed, FRAIL.

She looks up at Cooper. Delighted. Tears of joy. She reaches up to him ... he takes her hands.

Her voice is a frail whisper. With authority. The family shuffles out. Cooper watches them go, turns back to Murph.

Murph smiles, still mischievous. Cooper marvels at her.

She lifts her wrist - the WATCH is there ...

Cooper is crying now.

Murph is shaking her head.

And the family comes back in as Cooper releases Murph’s hand, stepping back to let Murph’s kids and grandkids swarm over her ... He watches them, their love, as if from another dimension. A man out of time. A ghost.

Brand, in suit and helmet, stands watching Case excavate a pod, buried under a massive rock fall. She is crying.

MECHANIC finishes looking over one of the sleek new Rangers. He packs his tools and heads out.

A figure unfolds itself in the shadows - Tars. He picks his way through the shadows, unlocks the door. Cooper DARTS in ...

Brand kneels in front of a small CROSS. Edmunds’ nameplate hangs from it.

She unseals her helmet - PULLS IT OFF ...

Cooper and Tars scurry down the line of sleek ships. Cooper points - Tars starts working the hatch mechanism, while Cooper KEEPS WATCH ...

Brand, helmet off, BREATHES. And breathes again.

Cooper STRAPS into the pilot’s chair, Tars beside him. The outer doors slide open. They look out at the inky blackness of space ...

Brand looks at the setting sun ...

The Mechanic opening up, walks along the row of ships until -

One is MISSING.

Brand turns from the dwindling light ...

She heads down through the twilight towards camp. And we -

Fade out.

Credits.

End.