FILM · 2002 · USA
Solaris
14 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (14)
- #001
Shortly before his death, Stanislaw Lem wrote on his personal website that he felt this adaptation overemphasized the human-relationship dilemma of his novel while trying to suggest what encountering something genuinely alien might be like. The planet Solaris is as far as possible from any preconception about alien life, so identifying with Rhea's Phi-Creature misses the point that all the Phi-Creatures are Solaris.
- #002
Steven Soderbergh was reported to have said that if viewers are not enjoying the first 10 minutes of the film, they would be better off leaving.
- #003
George Clooney said Steven Soderbergh initially had another actor in mind for the lead role, so Clooney wrote Soderbergh a letter asking to be considered, thinking a letter would be "less personal" if Soderbergh wanted to turn him down. Clooney said, "Thank God, the other actor turned the offer down." The other actor was Daniel Day-Lewis.
- #004
The film was initially given an R rating by the MPAA because of a shot of George Clooney's bare backside. Steven Soderbergh appealed the decision, arguing that similar content (and worse) airs on television. Soderbergh won the appeal and the film was given a PG-13 rating.
- #005
Soderbergh cast Jeremy Davies in the film after watching a tape in which Davies played Charles Manson. Davies was preparing to play Manson in an independent film. The tape circulated in the film industry and became a popular bootleg. Davies eventually played Manson in Helter Skelter (2004).
- #006
Gibarian's line "There are no answers, only choices" echoes Nietzsche's "There are no facts, only interpretations."
- #007
Gordon uses a device that emits Higgs bosons. This is the fundamental subatomic particle whose existence was predicted in 1964 by Peter Higgs and five other physicists. The particle was not actually observed until 2012, and in 2013 Mr. Higgs and one of his colleagues were awarded the Nobel Prize for their theoretical work.
- #008
In Ulrich Tukur's audio recordings, his dog could be seen listening carefully to his lines.
- #009
According to Insane Clown Posse, the producers of this film received no royalties for the use of the song "Riddle Box."
- #010
James Cameron considered directing but chose to produce instead. Daniel Day-Lewis was thought to be the lead.
- #011
One of the taglines proposed for this film was "Love never dies." However, the same tagline had also been used for Dracula (1992).
- #012
Rhea is also the name of Saturn's ninth moon.
- #013
Among the DVD's special features is a draft script in which Rheya tells Kelvin she felt she could not be a mother early in their relationship. The Solaris team performs a brain scan on Rheya's Phi-Creature showing that she has been reproduced down to the details that caused her medical condition, and Kelvin asks Snow whether Solaris is God, to which Snow replies that Rheya would be more likely to know. There is also a scene in which Kelvin talks with the station's artificial intelligence computer about Solaris, and the computer mentions that Solaris was discovered in 2015.
- #014
On Athena's engines there is a sign reading "Dals Ed Mitt i naturen," indicating that Dals Ed is a small town in western Sweden near the Norwegian border. The artist put it there on the grounds that "Athena must have passed through Dalsland at some point."
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