Movie Theater Blames Christopher Nolan For ‘Interstellar’ Sound Issues
Over a week after our story about thesound problems in some theatersforChristopher Nolan’sInterstellar, neither Nolan’s camp or anyone from a major theater chain has offered any kind of explanation. It remains a mystery everywhere…except for one theater in upstate New York. They say it’s Christopher Nolan’s fault.
A patron of the Cinemark Tinseltown USA and IMAX in Rochester, NY tweeted an image of a sign posted outside theater. The sign says their sound system is fine and it was Christopher Nolan’s mix that’s the problem. Once news of the sign made it into the public, it was quickly taken down, but you can see it below.
Thanks toThe Hollywood Reporterfor the heads up and Twitter user@JShookefor this image.
According to the story, the sign was put up independently of Cinemark corporate and once they got wind of it, it was taken down. The last thing a major theater chain wants to do is piss off not only one of the most powerful filmmakers in Hollywood, but a major movie studio like Paramount.
A Cinemark spokeperson toldThe Hollywood Reporterthe note was actually not correct and any sound problems were, in fact, due to a “hard drive problem” at the theater. Also of note, the theater with the problems was not their IMAX screen. It was their normal digital performance. Most of the early complaints about the film’s sound had to do with IMAX screenings so this suggests, if there is a problem, maybe it really is with the film’s mix. Remember in our article from November 5 that Nolan said this to the New York Times:
The most important thing, he said, was the volume; he wanted a lot of simple power, and all of it coming right out of the screen. He didn’t put a lot of surround in the mix, because he didn’t want a lot of distraction from the sides. (Outer space, he pointed out dryly, is not known for its ambient murmurs.)
So does this mean we get an official explanation of the Interstellar sound issues? Not likely.
UPDATE: Here’s an interesting, unverified update, from a theater employee:
@slashfilm-regarding the sound issues with Interstellar-I work at a movie theatre (Harkins Theatres) and we were personally called by
— Richard Rodriguez (@SOLITUDEPICTURE)August 24, 2025
@slashfilmby Paramount for Christopher Nolan and told he wanted all Theatres to turn our volumes up to the peak of what they’re designed
@slashfilmnot all are doing it though. Our theatre rejected the request and played it on normal movie theatre audio level
@slashfilmwhich explains why we didn’t have any issues.
Just thought I’d let you guys at /Film know!Love the site!
