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Oppenheimer (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Oppenheimer' is an upcoming American biographical film written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons. The film is based on 'American Prometheus', a biography written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. The film is a co-production between Universal Pictures, Syncopy Inc. and Atlas Entertainment, with Nolan producing the film alongside Emma Thomas and Charles Roven.
'Oppenheimer' is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 21, 2023 by Universal Pictures. It is Nolan's first film not to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures since 'Memento' (2000), due to disagreements arising from the studio's simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max streaming release strategy for their 2021 slate.
Premise
The film follows theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the manager of the Los Alamos Laboratory during the Manhattan Project and his contributions that led to the creation of the atomic bomb.
Cast
Production
Development
In December 2020, Warner Bros. Pictures announced plans to give its 2021 films simultaneous releases in theaters and on HBO Max due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry. Christopher Nolan, who had partnered with the studio on each one of his films starting with 'Insomnia' (2002), expressed his disbelief with the decision. In January 2021, media reports mentioned the possibility that Nolan's next film could be the first to not be financed or distributed by Warner Bros. Nolan had previously supported the studio's decision to give 'Wonder Woman 1984' (2020) a simultaneous release, stating that he perceived that situation to have been handled properly, but said he had been excluded from any discussions regarding the postponed release of his film 'Tenet' (2020).
In September 2021, it was reported that Nolan would write and direct a biopic film set during World War II about J. Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atomic bomb, with Cillian Murphy in negotiations to star. Nolan approached multiple studios for the film, including Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Apple Studios due to his strained relationship with Warner Bros. According to insiders, Paramount was out of the selection early on, following the replacement of CEO and Chairman Jim Gianopulos with Brian Robbins, an advocate for increased streaming service releases. On September 14, it was announced that Universal would distribute the film, with production set to begin in the first quarter of 2022. Some of Nolan's demands included a production budget of $100 million and an equal marketing budget, a theatrical window of at least 100 days, 20 percent of the film's first-dollar gross, and a three-week period before and after the film's release in which Universal could not release another new film.
Casting
'Oppenheimer' marks the sixth collaboration between Nolan and Murphy, and the first starring Murphy as the lead. To prepare for the role, the actor did what he summarized as "an awful lot of reading" on Oppenheimer's life. The casting process was so secretive that some actors did not know which character they were going to play until they agreed to star. Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt took pay cuts to work with Nolan, earning $4 million each in lieu of the usual $1020 million.Filming
Pre-production was underway by January 2022 in New Mexico, where a two-day casting call took place in Santa Fe and Los Alamos for people to audition to play local residents, military personnel and scientists. Another casting call was held in February. Filming began in late February 2022, with Hoyte van Hoytema serving as cinematographer. In the second week of April, filming took place at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. The film uses a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film. It is also the first film to shoot sections in IMAX black and white analog photography. Gary Oldman said he would be on set for a day in May for "one scene, a page and a half". Filming also occurred in California, primarily around University of California, Berkeley. Filming wrapped after four months in May 2022.
Post-production
During post-production, editing will be completed by Jennifer Lame, and the musical score will be composed by Ludwig Gransson, who previously edited and scored 'Tenet', respectively. Visual effects were handled by DNEG, marking their eighth collaboration with Nolan. Andrew Jackson was the visual effects supervisor.Release
'Oppenheimer' is scheduled to be released on July 21, 2023, by Universal Pictures in IMAX, 70 mm, and 35 mm. Considering the film's budget and marketing costs, 'Variety' says the film will need to gross at least $400 million worldwide to make a profit.
Marketing
A teaser trailer was released in July 2022, featuring a live countdown to the film's release; it premiered in screenings of 'Nope' before being posted online on Universal's social media profiles.References
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