Oppenheimer finally hits theaters next month and audience excitement is running high. Without a doubt, this is one of the most anticipated films of the year and the expectations that are held for the title are quite high. Oppenheimer is written and directed by acclaimed British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan, known for such notable films as Interstellar, Tenet – 83%, Dunkirk, Inception, Batman: The Dark Knight, among others.
The film is based on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning work written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin that recounts the life of theoretical physicist and creator of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. This feature-length biopic of the “father of the atomic bomb” is scheduled for a July 21 release and stars Cillian Murphy as the famous scientist, along with Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves Jr. , Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer, Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman and Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock.
With a running time of exactly 3 hours and 9 seconds, Oppenheimer will be Christopher Nolan’s longest film yet. While some initially complained about the length, the long running time was always considered a positive feature by fans of Nolan’s work. In a new video shared to TikTok by user @guywithamoviecamera, Nolan shows off the gigantic roll of film used to project Oppenheimer. “This is the Oppenheimer IMAX 70mm roll,” Nolan explains in the video. “Three hours and nine seconds, and they told me that’s eleven miles of film for one screening.” You can see the clip here.
In an interview with The Associated Press in early May, Cillian Murphy, the star of the film, said that Oppenheimer will definitely blow audiences away:
Likewise, the Peaky Blinders star praised Nolan’s spectacular work in creating a film as complicated as Oppenheimer is, and referred to him as one of the most talented filmmakers of all time. These were his words:
You realize that it is a great responsibility. It was complicated, contradictory and very iconic. But you know you’re with one of the greatest directors of all time. I felt confident talking to Chris. He has had a profound impact on my life, creatively and professionally. He has offered me very interesting roles and I have found them really challenging. And I love being on his sets. Any actor would want to be on a Chris Nolan set, just to see how he works and witness his mastery of cinematic language and the mechanics of the movie, and how he is able to use that wide canvas within the conventional studio system to make these such challenging human stories.
While this is the first time Christopher Nolan has ventured into directing a biographical drama, it looks like the film won’t disappoint audiences. With a rich track record behind them, audiences are confident that the Oscar-nominated filmmaker will successfully bring this important piece of history to the big screen. For now, the only big challenge Oppenheimer will face is its simultaneous theatrical release with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, another of the most anticipated films of the year.