Footage from one of the most hotly anticipated films of 2023 has finally been released, as audiences get their first glimpse at Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster, Oppenheimer. The legendary Hollywood filmmaker returns with his project since 2020’s time-bedding thriller, Tenet.
The auteur boasts a CV of consistent commercial and critical hits, including Memento, The Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar, and Dunkirk. With that in mind, expectations are high for his latest work, and he is unlikely to disappoint.
Nolan is known for using groundbreaking special effects throughout his career, and recently told Total Film he has recreated the first nuclear bomb explosion without the use of CGI for the film. It is also the first time he has produced a biopic, but given the scale of his previous works, and its immense ensemble cast, Oppenheimer is likely to prove another success for the renowned filmmaker.
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Here, we break down everything you need to know about Oppenheimer.
What is it about?
Oppenheimer follows the life of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the atomic bomb. It charts his role in the Manhattan Project, a research and development team that created the first nuclear weapons in the 1940s.
Oppenheimer was director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in the New Mexico desert, and played a pivotal role in the design and testing of nuclear bombs. Following the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer expressed regret at the overwhelming destruction in which he was heavily involved, and later called for the banning of nuclear bombs.
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Who are the cast?
Given Nolan’s impressive track record, it seems every A-list actor and their dog has jumped at the chance to appear in his latest work. Oppenheimer boasts a star-studded cast of Oscar winners and renowned Hollywood actors, fronted by Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy in the titular role.
Murphy previously worked with Nolan on Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy, in which he played villainous psychologist Jonathan Crane – aka The Scarecrow. He stars alongside A Quiet Place actress Emily Blunt as his wife Kitty, a German-American biologist.
Marvel legend Robert Downey Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, a commissioner of the US Atomic Energy Commission who later became its chairman. Matt Damon – who had a brief yet pivotal role in Nolan’s Interstellar – is Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project and the man who appointed Oppenheimer to the project.
Hot off the heels from her role alongside Harry Styles in Don’t Worry Darling, British actress Florence Pugh appears as Jean Tatlock, a psychiatrist and physician who had a romantic relationship with Oppenheimer. English thespian and former Commissioner Gordon actor Gary Oldman stars as US President Harry S. Truman.
Benny Safdie – one half of writer-director team the Safdie brothers – plays Edward Teller, a fellow theoretical physicist known as the father of the hydrogen bomb. Black Hawk Down actor Josh Hartnett is Ernest Lawrence, a nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize winner who also played a key role in the Manhattan Project.
Also reuniting with Nolan following his villainous turn in Tenet is Kenneth Branagh, who stars in an unspecified role. Rami Malek also stars an as yet unnamed scientist.
Rounding off the cast is young Han Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich, Oscar winner Casey Affleck and Full Metal Jacket and Stranger Things star Matthew Modine.
When is Oppenheimer released in cinemas?
Oppenheimer is slated for release in cinemas on July 21, 2023.
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