Oppenheimer, the new Christopher Nolan film, will be released in summer 2023. This is his first film since 2020’s Tenet and his split from Warner His Brothers.
Billed as an epic thriller about “The Man Who Changed the World,” this $100 million drama is definitely more adult-oriented than most this summer’s blockbuster season has to offer. Filmed on his IMAX camera in both color and black and white, the film represents the titular character’s contribution to the Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb.
Nolan’s movie plots usually hide secrets, but Oppenheimer is the first biopic he made, so we know quite a bit about what the movie is about.
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So, with that very mild spoiler warning in mind, here’s everything we know about Oppenheimer so far…
oppenheimer release date
Oppenheimer will be released exclusively in cinemas worldwide on July 21, 2023. Universal Pictures is financing and distributing the film after Nolan had a disagreement with Warner and his bros over the date and release strategy for his 2021 movie slate on HBO Max.
Interestingly, Warner’s Nolan’s Old Mackers counterprogrammed Greta Gerwig’s Barbie on the other side of it on the same day.
From a casting standpoint, it looks like everyone and everyone is in one or the other movie…
oppenheimer cast
Cillian Murphy plays the main character, theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. This is Nolan’s sixth film collaboration after The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk, but the first time he has a lead role.
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Additionally, Nolan’s Interstellar Surprise guest star Matt Damon plays a major role as Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves, the engineering officer who spearheaded the Manhattan project.
Other Nolan collaborators include Sir Kenneth Branagh, James Darcy, Matthew Modine, David Dastmalchian and Casey Affleck. Another Dark Knight alum, Gary Oldman, has a cameo as US President Harry S. Truman.
Emily Blunt co-stars with Nolan for the first time as activist and scientist Kitty Oppenheimer. Robert Downey Jr. plays Louis Strauss, Oppenheimer’s opponent in the debate over the development of the hydrogen bomb. Florence Pugh plays Gene Tatlock, Oppenheimer’s old flame and member of the American Communist Party.
Round out the star-studded cast including Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Olivia Thirlby, Michael Angarano and Josh Hartnett.
That’s not all. There’s also Jason Clarke, Alex Wolff, Tony Goldwyn, Jack Quaid, Emma Dumont and Dane DeHaan.
We could list many more names throughout the day, but suffice it to say it was a suitably epic ensemble.
The true story behind Oppenheimer
According to Universal’s official synopsis, Oppenheimer is “an epic thriller that plunges audiences into the heart-pounding paradox of an enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world to save it.”
Nolan reportedly referenced Kai Byrd and Martin J. Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, published in 2005. About his life after the Cold War and World War II.
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Oppenheimer, often referred to as the “father of the atomic bomb,” was a theoretical physicist whose involvement in the war effort began with an appointment to the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD). His role was to explore the weapons potential of uranium.
When command of the OSRD was transferred to the military in 1942, Groves selected Oppenheimer to head the top-secret Manhattan Project at a dedicated laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The joint efforts of Oppenheimer and Los Alamos scientists ultimately resulted in the world’s first nuclear explosion, the Trinity nuclear test, in July 1945. Most of us are happy he didn’t shoot near us.
The film is also expected to cover parts of Oppenheimer’s life after the war, including his subsequent accusations of disloyalty to the United States and his pivotal role in the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1954. security hearings.
Several sections of the film were shot in black and white on IMAX cameras, and judging by the trailer, these could be the post-war parts of the story. Again, Nolan seems to dislike linear storytelling as much as his CGI, so this will likely be a distinguishing Dunkirk-like structure.
Either way, all the hype seems to suggest that Oppenheimer will arrive with a bang, not a whine…
Is there an Oppenheimer trailer?
Universal released the official Oppenheimer teaser on July 28, 2022. This took place almost a year before its release via a dynamic live-streaming teaser that counts the hours, days and months until the anniversary of the Trinity Test with each viewing.
The first full trailer was released in December 2022 after appearing in front of another movie with strong ties to the IMAX format, Avatar: Path of Water. See below.
Oppenheimer opens in cinemas and IMAX on July 21, 2023.
