From the cinematic genius behind the Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception comes an ambitious new project that is set to captivate audiences worldwide. Universal Pictures recently shared a collection of striking images from Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, “Oppenheimer”, which is due to hit cinemas across the Philippines on July 19th. The captivating snapshots offer an intriguing glimpse into a narrative and characters that are poised to change the world as we know it.
“Oppenheimer” brings together a lineup of acting powerhouses, promising a film that is as star-studded as it is promising. The film boasts an ensemble cast that reads like a Hollywood roll call – Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., and Josh Hartnett. The newly released photos from Universal Pictures promise a visual spectacle that’s bound to leave viewers on the edge of their seats.
Oscar®-nominated writer-director Christopher Nolan brings to screen “Oppenheimer”, his most ambitious and urgent movie yet, a sweeping, epic thriller that delves deep into the psyche of a singular American mind: the brilliant scientist behind the world-shattering invention of the atomic bomb that represented the total sum of human ingenuity, an invention that would remake civilization, even as its very existence threatened the future of mankind.
Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer – The Man Behind the Bomb
Audiences have witnessed the depth of Murphy’s talent in roles across “28 Days Later”, “A Quiet Place II”, “Peaky Blinders”, and previous Nolan ventures including “The Dark Knight Trilogy”, “Inception”, and “Dunkirk”. In “Oppenheimer”, he takes on the formidable task of portraying the physicist known as the Father of the Atomic Bomb. In Murphy’s own words, the challenge lies in embodying Oppenheimer’s immense intellect and moral quandaries, a pursuit of complexity befitting the multi-faceted man himself.
Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer – The Nonconformist
Known for her impressive turns in breakout role and scene-stealing performances in “Devil Wears Prada” and A Quiet Place (I and II), Emily Blunt embodies the role of Kitty Oppenheimer, a biologist, botanist, and J. Robert’s wife. Blunt found herself drawn to Kitty’s defiance against societal norms and her unwillingness to conform to traditional gender expectations, finding it refreshingly modern and relatable. “Kitty is a character who doesn’t do small talk; she only does big talk,” Blunt says. “She’s complicated, volatile, bewitching all at once. What I really was drawn to with her is that idea of a woman who refused to conform to the sort of feminine ideal of the time, why you need to get married and have children and support your man and that’s your job and that’s all you’re allowed. She just had this defiance against the system that felt so modern.”
Matt Damon as Leslie Groves Jr. – Witness to History
To play the brigadier general, the filmmakers recruited Matt Damon, who earlier this year added to a gilded resume of Oscar® nominated performances (and an Academy Award® for co-writing Good Will Hunting) with an acclaimed performance in Air. Groves, who played a crucial role in the creation of the atomic bomb, represents an origin story for a world shaped by the aftermath of the Manhattan Project, a narrative thread Damon found deeply compelling. “I’m a child of the Cold War,” Damon says. “I grew up with the consequences of this piece of history. So, without a doubt, this is one of the most important stories of our time.”
Robert Downey, Jr. as Lewis Strauss – Nuclear Policy Architect
Lewis Strauss was a founding commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1947, playing a key role in shaping America’s post-war nuclear policy. The Oppenheimer opportunity arrived in Downey Jr.’s life at a moment when he was trying to be choosy following his blockbuster run playing the foremost avenger of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “I had been cooling my heels for about a year before the pandemic, just reacquainting myself with my family and other interests because I had been working super consistently,” says Downey Jr. “But this was Christopher Nolan, doing something that was important to him. The cast was this large gathering of folks who have their choice of projects. And just as soon as we were under way, world events lined up in a way that turned this movie into an important metaphor that could speak to any number of things. So, it was kind of a no- brainer.”
Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock – The Free Spirit
An intellectual, deep-feeling introvert, sensual, free-spirited, yet prone to bouts of melancholy, Jean Tatlock was a Stanford-educated psychiatrist who had an intense yet tortured romance with J. Robert Oppenheimer. To play Tatlock, the filmmakers cast Florence Pugh, whose performances in Black Widow, Midsommar and Little Women, which earned her an Oscar® nomination, have made her one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars. She took the part for the chance to work with a director she admired. “It’s a Christopher Nolan movie, number one,” says Pugh, “and number two, he has one of the most incredible leads. Cillian Murphy is an actor that I have been watching for quite some time and have been desperate to work with for ages. You’d have to be mad to say no. It felt like I was playing sports with some of the best athletes, so it was truly one of the best experiences that I’ve had.”
Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence – The Unsung Hero
To play the physicist Lawrence, Nolan chose Josh Hartnett, no stranger to big films that tackle the morality of war and military heroics, having played an Army pilot in Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor and an Army ranger in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. Returning to movies after taking time off to focus on raising kids, Hartnett re-engages the genre that made him a star through a different kind of character. “I knew a bit about Oppenheimer, but not Lawrence and how he was instrumental in creating nuclear weapons and what is now our 21st century dilemma,” Hartnett says. “He’s the most important and impressive historical figure from the 20th Century that I knew nothing about. He developed the cyclotron, developed the concept of big science, he basically gave birth to what is now the super-collider. Everything has changed because of this guy and his tinkering.”
Also starring Oscar® winner Casey Affleck as Boris Pash, chief of Army counter-intelligence at the Presidio in San Francisco, Oscar® winner Rami Malek plays David Hill, an associate experimental physicist, Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush, head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, Oscar® nominee Tom Conti as Albert Einstein and Oscar® winning filmmaker and actor Kenneth Branagh plays Nobel Prize winning physicist Niels Bohr.
Nolan employs a combination of IMAX® 65mm and 65mm large-format film photography for the movie, incorporating IMAX® black and white analogue photography for the first time ever, making “Oppenheimer” a cinematic event to look forward to.
