Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan wrote, produced, and directed the epic biographical thriller drama film Oppenheimer, which came out in 2023. The biography of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who contributed to the creation of the first nuclear bombs during World War II, is chronicled in this film. Based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s 2005 biography American Prometheus, the movie recounts Oppenheimer’s academic pursuits, as director of Los Alamos Laboratory, and his 1954 security hearing. Robert Downey Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, a US Atomic Energy Commission member, while Cillian Murphy plays Oppenheimer. Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh are among the ensemble supporting cast members.

Gener: Biography, Drama, History
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin
Duration: 3h
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon

Oppenheimer Movie Cast:

Production:

Development

The Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus (2005) by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin piqued the curiosity of director Sam Mendes. Over the course of the following fifteen years, several filmmakers optioned the novel after the first project fell through. The writers started to lose hope for a movie adaptation. Oliver Stone said he “couldn’t find my way to its essence” when asked about directing.

J. David Wargo optioned the book in 2015; he subsequently commissioned and rejected multiple scripts. In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, Wargo traveled to Hollywood to meet with actor James Woods, who arranged a meeting with producer Charles Roven, who in turn sent Nolan a copy of the book. Woods and Wargo are the movie’s executive producers.

Long before he read American Prometheus, Nolan had wanted to do a movie on Oppenheimer. Towards the end of 2019, Robert Pattinson, the star of Christopher Nolan’s science-fiction picture Tenet (2020), presented him a book of Oppenheimer’s talks. Nolan claimed that Oppenheimer was “wrestling with the implications… of what’s happened and what [he’s] done” throughout the remarks. Unlike Tenet, which uses time travel to stop a potential weapon of mass destruction, Nolan wants to show “what it would have been like to be Oppenheimer in those moments”.

Warner Bros. Pictures said in December 2020 that it would premiere its 2021 films simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters, citing the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the motion picture business. Not to be outdone, Nolan was in favor of traditional film presentation and has collaborated with Warner Bros. on all of his films since Insomnia (2002). According to reports in the media in January 2021, Nolan may make history with his next movie by not having Warner Bros. finance or distribute it.

Nolan had departed Warner Bros. by the middle of 2021 and was consulting with several studios to prepare his next project. Prior to this, Nolan had backed Warner’s choice to release Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) simultaneously, stating that he thought the matter had been handled appropriately. However, he said he had not been included in any conversations about Tenet’s delayed release.

It was revealed in September 2021 that Cillian Murphy was in talks to play the lead role in Nolan’s biographical picture about Oppenheimer and his contributions to the Manhattan Project.[62, 63] Owing to his tense relationship with Warner Bros., Nolan made approaches to Sony, Universal, Paramount, and Apple, among other studios.[64][65] Insiders claim that because Brian Robbins, a supporter of more streaming-service releases, took over as CEO and chairman in place of Jim Gianopulos, Paramount was disqualified from consideration early in the process.

After working with Donna Langley, the chairperson and chief content officer of the NBCUniversal studio company, on an abortive attempt to develop a cinematic adaptation of the UK television series The Prisoner, Nolan signed with Universal. Universal agreed to finance and release Oppenheimer, and Langley agreed with Nolan’s position on traditional cinema exhibition. Production is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2022.

Additionally, Universal consented to Nolan’s demands, which included a $100 million production budget, an equal marketing budget, an exclusive theatrical window of 90 to 120 days, 20 percent of the movie’s first-dollar gross, and a three-week window during which Universal was not allowed to release another film.

Casting

Oppenheimer is Nolan and Murphy’s sixth joint project, and the first in which Murphy plays the lead. Murphy studied Oppenheimer’s life in great detail in order to prepare for the part, and he drew inspiration from David Bowie’s performance in the 1970s. One day, Nolan called Murphy to ask him to play the character. Murphy happily accepted, thrilled to be playing the lead in a film directed by the director. Murphy read the script to Nolan in his hotel room after he flew to Dublin to meet with him.

For the part, Murphy shed an undisclosed amount of weight to more closely resemble the scrawny appearance of the actual Oppenheimer. In addition, Nolan arranged for Murphy to speak with Nobel laureate Kip Thorne, who had collaborated with Nolan on Interstellar (2014). Thorne told Murphy about his experiences as a doctoral student attending some of Oppenheimer’s seminars and about Oppenheimer’s talent at guiding seminars on challenging scientific ideas.

Some cast members signed up without knowing the role they would be portraying because the casting procedure was so opaque.[37] Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Robert Downey Jr. all accepted wage cuts to work on the movie; instead of receiving their typical $10–20 million upfront salary, each received $4 million.[82] After printing the script in black on red paper, Downey went to Nolan’s residence to read it.[83] Later on, Downey would call Oppenheimer “the best film” in which he had yet to feature.

Blunt first met Nolan in Los Angeles, and she quickly accepted the role of Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer when it was offered. Blunt immediately got in touch with Murphy to ask about expectations for working with Nolan. Damon, who had starred in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, was asked to play Leslie Groves. He was taking a sabbatical from acting due to a discussion with his wife in couples therapy, but he went on with Oppenheimer because he had one condition reserved: if Nolan offered him a role in a movie.

After questioning filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson about his experience directing writer-director Benny Safdie in Licorice Pizza (2021), Nolan chose Safdie as physicist Edward Teller. In high school, Safdie had an internship at Columbia University with a nuclear scientist. This marks Nolan’s first picture without Michael Caine since Insomnia (2002).

Filming

By January 2022, pre-production had moved to New Mexico, with a two-day casting call held in Santa Fe and Los Alamos for roles involving scientists, locals, and members of the armed forces.[88, 89] In February, a second casting call was held.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot principal photography at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico for 57 days, starting on February 28, 2022.  The first shooting schedule was for 85 days or more of filming. But it was evident during pre-production that primary photography would not be finished in the allotted $100 million over that number of days on location across the United States.

Nolan cut the filming timeline from 85 to 57 days in order to make the most use of the funds for location shooting in California and New Jersey and building excellent historically accurate sets in New Mexico.[92, 93] Murphy, who shows up in almost all of the scenes, called the pacing “insane”.

Music

Dominic Lewis, who also composed the music for Bullet Train, wrote the score for The Fall Guy. The theme song for the show, originally performed by Lee Majors, was covered by Blake Shelton for the album.

Release:

Oppenheimer Release Dates:

  • March 12, 2024 (SXSW)
  • April 24, 2024 (Australia)
  • May 2, 2024 (United Kingdom)
  • May 3, 2024 (United States)

The world premiere of Oppenheimer took place on July 11, 2023, at Le Grand Rex in Paris. On July 13, it was held at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London, and on July 17, it was held at AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York City, for the American premiere. The SAG-AFTRA strike had an impact on both the London and New York premieres; some actors left the London premiere early, while Universal Pictures called off the red carpet event for the New York premiere.

The studios “duped” the guild into granting a twelve-day extension for discussions to continue promoting summer blockbusters like Oppenheimer, according to President Fran Drescher later on. On July 21, 2023, Oppenheimer was released in theaters by Universal Pictures. It was released in a number of film formats, including IMAX 70 mm (30 prints), ordinary 70 mm (113 copies), and 35 mm (around 80 prints), in addition to regular digital theaters.

Recognition:

The movie won praise from critics.[b] Oppenheimer’s screenplay, cast performances, and images were the main reasons for the critics’ appreciation. It was consistently rated as one of 2023’s top movies as well as one of Christopher Nolan’s finest movies. According to Hindustan Times, the movie was praised as one of the greatest of the twenty-first century. 93% of 505 reviewers’ reviews on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The verdict on the website is that “Oppenheimer marks another engrossing achievement from Christopher Nolan that benefits from Murphy’s tour-de-force performance and stunning visuals.”

The movie received a weighted average of 90 out of 100 from Metacritic, which is based on the reviews of 69 critics. This results in “universal acclaim” for the picture. The movie received an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale from CinemaScore respondents, while PostTrak respondents gave it an overall positive score of 93%, with 74% indicating they would definitely recommend the movie.

Oppenheimer Movie Watch Online:

There are several illegal websites which offer Oppenheimer movie online streaming. But if we talk about the legal ones, this film is not yet released on any OTT Platform.