A brief first look at Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer has been released in the form of a new trailer and you can watch it below:
Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy and is a biopic of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. It will trace Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. The scientist headed the Manhattan Project, a research and development venture started during World War II, which ultimately resulted in the production of the first nuclear weapons.
Nolan is in the director's chair, working alongside his producing partner Emma Thomas. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy by J. Robert Oppenheimer. It will be released in theaters on July 21, 2023.
As in all Christopher Nolan movies, the list of actors is stellar, in addition to Murphy you have Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Rami Malek, Josh Hartnett, Matthew Modine, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Dylan Arnold, Olli. Haaskivi, Benny Safdie, Kenneth Branagh, Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz, and Michael Angarano.
Murphy plays Oppenheimer himself with Emily Blunt playing his wife, Kitty. Matt Damon will play Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves Jr, a US Army Corps of Engineers officer who led the Manhattan Project, while Robert Downey Jr. will play former US Secretary of Commerce Lewis Strauss.
Florence Pugh will play Jean Tatlock, a Communist Party USA member who had an affair with Oppenheimer, and Safdie will play Hungarian physicist Edward Teller, now known as the father of the hydrogen bomb. Dylan Arnold will play Oppenheimer's brother Frank, and Harnett will play pioneering nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence.
The trailer doesn't give much away and consists largely of a series of characters talking about clips of fire and destruction, as well as new footage of Murphy's character.
Fire is very much the theme of this new ad, as you can see from the newly unveiled movie poster below:
Oppenheimer marks new territory for Nolan in several ways.
First, it's Nolan's first for Universal Pictures after his nine-film run with Warner Bros. ended with the 2020 release of Tenet; and second, the film is shot on a combination of 65mm and 65mm IMAX wide-format film. This is the first time a sectional film has been made in IMAX black and white analog photography. Nolan is an IMAX enthusiast and has used the technology throughout his career.
Analysis: Is Oppenheimer new territory for Nolan?
While it could be argued that with 2017's Dunkirk, Nolan was acting out real events, but none of his characters had ever existed, so making a drama about the life of a very real and important figure in history changes the dynamic a bit. of Nolan.
But one look at this trailer reveals that all the classic Nolan traits are there. The elegant setups, the frenetic scoring, and his incredible ability to build tension with every frame.
It seems unlikely to be an intimate Oppenheimer scene portrait of Murphy leaning over lab tables. Like everything Nolan does, it has scale, pomp and verve. Looking forward to next summer.