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Excitement about Oppenheimer is at a high as Christopher Nolan's latest ambitious project if right around the corner, marking one of the most anticipated releases of the year. Nolan has become a celebrated director with epic movies like Inception, Interstellar, and of course, the Dark Knight trilogy. Now Nolan is returning for his first project with Universal Pictures in a biographical look at one of the most controversial and interesting characters in American history. With an intriguing subject in Robert Oppenheimer, an A-list cast, and a visionary director at the helm, the Oppenheimer news has been of great interest since the movie was first announced.
Nolan’s career began in 2000 with Memento after directing various short films, which established him as a filmmaker to watch. While his Dark Knight trilogy helped to push him to the mainstream, Nolan continued to make bold movies on a big scale, and Oppenheimer is his most ambitious movie yet. After dealing with historical events in his war movie Dunkirk, Oppenheimer is Nolan's first straight biographical movie, focusing on J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), often referred to as the "father of the atomic bomb." Since its announcement, exciting developments have been revealed, but there's still a lot of mystery surrounding one the biggest movies of 2023.
Oppenheimer Latest News
The Oppenheimer movie premiere is right around the corner with anticipation high for Christopher Nolan's latest as it sets to be released on July 21, 2023. The first reactions to Oppenheimer have been overwhelmingly positive with praise heaped in the story, the cast, and Nolan's direction. There are also plenty of reactions assuring the audience that the fast-paced nature of the movie makes its 3-hour runtime more than manageable. And while Nola is reportedly upset about Oppenheimer sharing a release date with Barbie, there are plenty of movie-goers who are planning on making these movies a double-bill on the same weekend if not the same day.
Oppenheimer Release Date
Oppenheimer will be released on July 21, 2023, and Nolan has also teased the Oppenheimer runtime, mentioning, "It's kissing three hours." This makes it the longest movie in his career, just edging out the 169-minute Interstellar — shot in IMAX and 65mm film throughout Oppenheimer was confirmed to be the latest Christopher Nolan movie when it was first reported in January 2021. However, the new project also came with a good deal of drama as Nolan was reportedly upset with Warner Bros for their decision to release all their 2021 titles on HBO Max alongside the theatrical releases (via Indiewire).
After a bidding war for the new project, Nolan decided to take his movie to Universal Studios. It was also reported that Nolan had some big demands for signing on with the new studio, including a 100-day theatrical window for the release, no Universal releases within three weeks before and after the release, and a $100 million budget. Nolan was also reported to have created the explosions in Oppenheimer without CGI.
Though most attention has been paid to Christopher Nolan's movie going head-to-head with Barbie on opening weekend, a new cinematic rival for Oppenheimer has emerged with Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. Cruise is reportedly unhappy that the seventh Mission: Impossible movie will be kicked out of IMAX theaters after just one week to accommodate Oppenheimer's release. The behind-the-scenes drama even led to a response from IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond, saying "I feel sad in a way we can’t accommodate all of them," while suggesting Mission: Impossible could potentially return to IMAX following Oppenheimer's run.
Oppenheimer Cast
The Oppenheimer cast is one of the most exciting aspects of the movie with Nolan bringing together a massive star-studded ensemble. The movie is led by Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, marking the actor's sixth movie with Nolan. Emily Blunt will also star as his wife, Katherine Oppenheimer. Other big names in the cast include Matt Damon as Leslie Groves and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, his first movie role since the negatively received Doolittle, marking a more worthy follow-up to his time in the MCU.
Other cast members in Oppenheimer include Florence Pugh as Oppenheimer's mistress, Jean Tatlock. Benny Safdie will play Edward Teller and Josh Hartnett is Ernest Lawrence. President Harry S. Truman will be played Gary Oldman. The ensemble Oppenheimer cast is truly star-studded though, as it also includes Rami Malek, Casey Affleck, Dane Dehaan, Alden Ehrenreich, and Jack Quaid in various roles. While the movie has an astonishing all-star cast full of Oscar winners and nominees and movie stars, even Oppenheimer's extras are noteworthy, as Nolan revealed that the movie's extras are scientists to add authenticity.
Why Cillian Murphy Was Desperate To Play Oppenheimer
Murphy and Nolan have had a great long-running relationship. Even though Nolan repeatedly works with Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, and several others, Murphy has always been at Nolan's back and call, and the actor is the first to admit it. Murphy explained while promoting Oppenheimer, "I have always said publicly and privately, to Chris, that if I’m available and you want me to be in a movie, I’m there. I don’t really care about the size of the part." However, Murphy has never gotten a lead role in a Nolan movie, only having cameos in the two Batman Begins follow-ups, and his roles in Inception and Dunkirk were tertiary characters.
Though Murphy was fine with those roles, he admitted, "Deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him." However, that will finally happen in Oppenheimer, and Murphy expressed how exciting it was when he found out about the role, recalling, "He’s so understated and self-deprecating and, in his very English manner, just said, ‘Listen, I’ve written this script, it’s about Oppenheimer. I’d like you to be my Oppenheimer.' It was a great day…" Nolan should be equally appreciative, as the 2023 collaboration could be mutually beneficial. The two artists could pick up their very first Academy Awards, and they couldn't have done it without each other.
Oppenheimer Story Details
Murphy has doubled down on his praise of Nolan as Murphy called the Oppenheimer screenplay "the best script I ever read." Though he might have been being biased given that it's the lead role in a Nolan movie that he's been trying to get his hands on for years, Murphy assures that's not the case. Murphy added, "I think the film is sensational. As a person who loves films — I’m not saying it ’cause I’m in the f**king thing, I hate looking at myself — but as a lover of film, as a cinephile, I’m a Chris Nolan fan."
Nolan's biographical drama is mainly based on American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin — widely considered to be one of the definitive biographies detailing the triumph and tragedy of Oppenheimer's life. J. Robert Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist and the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory. Due to his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons, he’s credited as one of the “fathers of the atomic bomb”.
However, Oppenheimer was not solely responsible, and based on Einstein's appearance in the trailer, the movie will likely delve into the long and detailed but mysterious past between the two scientists. Though Einstein wasn't directly involved with Oppenheimer's monstrous creation, the two had a close relationship for decades beforehand, and Einstein served as somewhat of a mentor to Oppenheimer. The two scientists had their ups and downs, and Oppenheimer once called the famous scientist "childlike and profoundly stubborn." It's unlikely that Einstein will have a huge role in the movie, he could appear to give Oppenheimer advice and serve as an Alfred to Oppenheimer's Batman.
When Christopher Nolan appeared at CinemaCon, he showed footage of the movie and introduced it by saying, "J. Robert Oppenheimer is the most important person who ever lived." Tons of Oppenheimer movie updates were revealed too, such as the scientist's relationships with work colleagues and in his personal life, but what was most talked about was how Oppenheimer will be just as much of a spy thriller as a biographical drama. Oppenheimer will explore the physicist's ties to the communist party and the espionage and spying that he and the party were involved with.
Watch The Oppenheimer Trailer
Oppenheimer's final trailer gives an in-depth look at the whole cast, including Damon's depiction of a worrying Lieutenant General, Blunt as Oppenheimer's concerned wife, and Robert Downey Jr. as a stoic naval officer, among many others. Of course, at the center of it all is Murphy as Oppenheimer as he navigates the various challenges and dangers of the project he's undertaking while grappling with what it will mean for the world. Between the looming destruction on a global level and the Oscar-caliber performances from everyone involved, the Oppenheimer trailer hints at Nolan's best and most emotional movie yet.
