First Look: Cillian Murphy Lights Up For Christopher Nolan’s Nuclear Bomb Drama Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan has started shooting his latest magnum opus, Oppenheimer, the biopic of J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who invented the atomic bomb.
The news was shared on Tuesday (Feb 22) alongside a first look of star Cillian Murphy as the title character. The black-and-white photo shows Murphy, looking serious with a hat, and a cigarette in his mouth. (FYI: Oppenheimer was a chain smoker and he died from throat cancer. Remember: Smoking is bad for your health.)
Murphy has previously worked with Nolan on Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception and Dunkirk.
According to Variety, the production is said to cost about US$100 million (S$135 mil) and will be shot in California, New Jersey and New Mexico. The latter was the base of The Manhattan Project, the US-led effort to develop an atomic weapon during WWII; the world’s first nuke was detonated there on July 16, 1945.
Oppenheimer — written and directed by Nolan, adapted from Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer — features an all-star cast, including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek, Alden Ehrenreich, Dane DeHaan and Matthew Modine.
In the unlikely event that you’re not into a grown-up drama about the birth of the nuclear bomb, looking at the stellar ensemble, you will be.
Oppenheimer is released by Universal Pictures, which reportedly won the right the rights in a bidding war with the various studios, including Warner Bros, which released the last eight Nolan films, from 2003’s Insomnia to The Dark Knight trilogy to 2020’s Tenet.
In 2020, the director had a falling out with the studio over its decision to release its entire 2021 slate simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max without consulting the filmmakers. Even though Nolan wasn’t affected by the dual-release strategy, he is a big advocate of the theatrical experience.
Oppenheimer will be out in the US on July 21, 2023; no local release date was announced at time of this writing.
Photo: UIP
