Christopher Nolan's Robert J. Oppenheimer biopic could be one of his greatest cinematic achievements yet. Here's everything we know about Oppenheimer.
There are plenty of exciting Oppenheimer movie updates to share as Christopher Nolan's latest ambitious project draws closer to release, and Oppenheimer's newest trailer reveals more exciting details. 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, new Oppenheimer movie updates have been highly sought after since it was announced.
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Oppenheimer Latest News
Now the film is in the stages of being heavily promoted, Oppenheimer movie updates are coming in quickly, and Matt Damon and Emily Blunt are responsible for the most recent news. The two actors have been singing Murphy's praises, as they were astounded by the actor's Oscar-worthy performance. Damon explained, "When you are at the center of a movie at that scale, shooting seven scenes in a day, it takes a different focus and concern and commitment. It’s beautiful to watch someone give themselves to it fully.” Blunt was just as amazed, noting, “[Murphy] leads with truth, he isn’t an actor who chews the scenery. There aren’t many people who can seemingly do nothing and be magnetic like him... He has thought about every detail."
Most recent Oppenheimer movie updates see special effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher discussing Oppenheimer's groundbreaking visual effects, revealing that the nuclear explosion in the film was actually created using practical effects. Fisher explained, "It's mostly gasoline, propane, any of that kind of stuff, because you get so much bang for your buck. But then we also bring in stuff like aluminum powder and magnesium to really enhance the brightness, and give it a certain look..." Nolan has always opted for practical over digital wherever necessary, but Oppenheimer takes it one step further. The supervisor added, "It is like an old-school technique. We don't call them miniatures; we call them big-atures."
Oppenheimer Release Date
Oppenheimer will be released on July 21, 2023, and Nolan also teased the Oppenheimer runtime, mentioning, "It's kissing three hours," which makes the longest movie in his career, just edging out the 169-minute Interstellar. It was revealed that Oppenheimer was shot in IMAX and 65mm film and will be released in IMAX. 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.
The latest Oppenheimer movie updates come after the studio screened footage at CinemaCon. Universal Pictures not only showed some footage from the movie, but Nolan also appeared on stage to introduce the footage to the crowd. This footage highlighted the knowledge that Oppenheimer had that the atomic explosion was immensely powerful, and he went through with helping create it anyway. He also struggled with this, saying in the footage, "I don’t know if we can be trusted with the weapon, but I know the Nazis can’t."
According to Nolan in the introduction, the historical information about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb lays the groundwork for what he turned into a "pulse-pounding thriller." The footage also revealed that Oppenheimer might not be as famous as someone like Albert Einstein when it comes to the Manhattan Project, but was still one of the most important figures in its creation. The footage showed how hard it was for Oppenheimer to struggle with helping create this weapon, but it also showed why he did it in spite of that. As Nolan said, "J. Robert Oppenheimer is the most important person who ever lived."
Oppenheimer Cast
Among the most exciting Oppenheimer movie updates are the casting reveals 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, both physicists who worked alongside Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project. President Harry S. Truman will be played by none other than 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, though they aren't traditional actors. In a recent Oppenheimer movie update, Nolan revealed that the movie's extras are scientists, explaining, "You've been on sets where you've got a lot of extras around and they're more or less thinking about lunch. These guys were thinking about the geopolitical implications of nuclear arms and knew a lot about it." With scientists hovering around Murphy and Nolan every step of the way, the movie could be even more accurate than first expected.
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.
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 in a recent Oppenheimer movie update, 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 will mainly be 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.
Oppenheimer: Trailer
The first Oppenheimer movie updates and footage avoided getting into the story, instead focusing on the imagery of the explosion and quick glimpses at the movie. The footage also proved that, despite the all-star cast, Peaky Blinders' Cillian Murphy would be front and center in Oppenheimer. However, 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. 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.
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