Christopher Nolan goes nuclear with Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan goes nuclear. No, he is not (yet) upset with Principlethe pandemic-era exit (although he’s definitely ditched ex-BFF Warner Bros., who he claims missed the palindrome film’s release). His next film, Oppenheimer, follows the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the theoretical physicists credited with being the “father of the atomic bomb”, and his role in the Manhattan Project – you know, the top-secret nuclear research and development program run by the United States government to develop doomsday weapons. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimerby Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.

Nolan partnered with Universal Pictures to finance and distribute the film, which he also wrote and directed, after dropping Warner Bros. Black Knight trilogy, Creation, Dunkirk, And Principle — on the aforementioned release of the latter film. But that doesn’t mean he’s ditching his Nolan-y aesthetic. Like his previous films, it is an event film. Think fiery explosions and long shots of pensive landscapes and Cillian Murphy’s voiceover and obsession with the mysteries of spacetime, all captured on Imax widescreen film by former collaborator Hoyte VanHoytema. Moreover, the music of PrincipleIt is (And Black Panther‘s) Ludwig Goransson. Below is the stunning trailer, cast, plot and release date details for Oppenheimer.

A film on nuclear research and armaments must have a trailer adapted to the subject. The latest shows a more confident man that the bomb’s destructive power is a necessary evil. “We are in a race against the Nazis, and I know what it means if the Nazis have a bomb,” he said. “We have a hope.” Oppenheimer attends a postwar congressional hearing at the end of the trailer, realizing the gravity of what they have created. In December 2022’s first full look, we saw an Oppenheimer who, despite creating the incredibly destructive weapon, seems a little preoccupied with deploying it. The very first shot is the burning of a detonated nuclear bomb, followed by a close-up of the beleaguered scientist’s eyes and falling rain. “We imagine a future, and our imaginations horrify us,” he says in voiceover as researchers assemble the bomb. “They won’t fear it until they understand it. And they won’t understand it until they use it. He doesn’t know if we can be trusted with such a weapon. “But we have no choice,” he said.

An all-star cast. Longtime Nolan collaborator Cillian Murphy (Black Knight trilogy, Creation, Dunkirk) And Peaky Blinders star, plays Oppenheimer. Plus, there’s Emily Blunt, best known (by me) for The devil wears Pradaand, more recently, for his turn in The quiet place. She plays Oppenheimer’s wife, Katherine. The most carefree star of this year’s Venice Film Festival (Florence Pugh, duh) – remember when she strutted down the carpet in a matching purple ensemble holding an Aperol spritz during an ominous press tour ? – appears in the film as Jean Tatlock, a psychiatrist and doctor who has a complicated relationship with the titular character. Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. is Lewis Strauss, a businessman and philanthropist who became a major figure in the development of the bomb.

Oscar-winning actors Matt Damon (Goodwill hunting) and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) also stars, along with former Manhattan Project director Leslie Groves. Uncut Gems‘ Benny Safdie is Edward Teller, a Hungarian physicist. Shakespeare enthusiast Kenneth Branagh also appears alongside Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz and Michael Angarano.

If half of Hollywood played a part in Barbiethen the other half got a job at Nolan Oppenheimer.

Not CGI. The film recreates the very first nuclear weapon detonation without using computer graphics for filming purposes. Visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson had to rack his brains over how to film effects “in a practical way, from depicting quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating , with my team, from Los Alamos on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, much of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions there – there were huge practical challenges,” did he declare. Total movie. We still don’t know exactly how he created the doppelganger bomb, but we’ll find out soon.

The film explodes into theaters on July 21, 2023.

This post has been updated.