Christopher Nolan’s 'Oppenheimer' Biopic Lands Release Date and Leading Man
Only a month after being announced and landing at Universal, Christopher Nolan’s will be out in theatres July 2023, and star Nolan perennial actor Cillian Murphy.
The studio has announced a release date for the director’s epic biopic ‘Oppenheimer’. Audiences can expect to see it exclusively in theatres July 21, 2023; six years to the date that Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’ premiered and a lucky timeframe for the filmmaker in the past. In addition, Universal confirmed what had been rumoured for a while that frequent Nolan collaborator Cillian Murphy will be portraying the titular scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer.
In addition to directing, Nolan will write and co produce the film alongside his partner Emma Thomas. Oppenheimer will be adapted from Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize winning biography “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” making the first Nolan adapted film since “The Dark Knight Rises”. Other collaborators joining the project include DOP Hoyte Van Hoytema, editor Jennifer Lame and composer Ludwig Göransson.
For those unfamiliar about Oppenheimer, he was often referred to as “father of the atomic bomb” as he ran the Los Alamos Laboratory and was involved in the Manhattan Project, a World War II undertaking that saw the development and first use of the atomic bombs. Despite his involvement, Oppenheimer would eventually build complicated feelings towards their use and became lobbyist for nuclear control in the later half of his career. Universal has described the film as “an epic thriller” that explores “the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it”.
For Nolan, Oppenheimer seems to mark a major change of pace in more ways than one for the director. Known for his ambitious sci-fi and action flicks that incorporate amazing visual effects and stonework, this seems like it will be a more grounded and realistic dramatic thriller that will still have an epic cinematic feel as the film will be shot in IMAX 65MM and 65MM large-format film print. On paper this sounds like it could be Nolan’s equivalent of something like “Patton” which was another epic biopic about a controversial figure in American history. But the biggest change comes from Nolan’s change in studio. Warner Bros has been the filmmaker’s home for the last twenty years having been involved in all of his films since 2002’s “Insomnia” (although they only distributed “The Prestige” and “Interstellar” overseas while Disney and Paramount handled respective North American duties). The studio’s controversial decision to release its entire 2021 slate to theatres and HBO Max fractured their relationship with Nolan and while they did bid on Oppenheimer, Universal won by agreeing to terms that the filmmaker asked for, such as an exclusive 100 day theatrical window and complete creative control.
Murphy, on the other hand, seems like the perfect if not exactly conventional choice to play Oppenheimer. Marking his sixth team up with Nolan, the Irish actor has been a welcome presence in movies and television over the last twenty years thanks to performances in “28 Days Later”, “Red Eye” and most recently “A Quiet Place Part 2”. Murphy has also gained strong critical notices for his work on “Peaky Blinders”. He plans to try his hand at a leading role here and given his resemblance to Oppenheimer and unique talents, he should knock it out of the park. As of now, Murphy is the only cast member signed on but it will be interesting if past actors who have worked with Nolan like Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Elizabeth Debicki and so forth join.
Oppenheimer is only just starting to get off the ground but it already has the makings of another Nolan masterpiece that will stretch his skills as a filmmaker. Production is expected to begin at the top of 2022 and the film will hit theatres July 21, 2023.