Oppenheimer (film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Oppenheimer (film)
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Christopher Nolan
Produced by	Emma Thomas Charles Roven Christopher Nolan
Screenplay by	Christopher Nolan
Starring	Cillian Murphy Emily Blunt Matt Damon Robert Downey Jr. Florence Pugh Josh Hartnett Casey Affleck Rami Malek Kenneth Branagh
Music by	Ludwig Göransson
Cinematography	Hoyte van Hoytema
Editing by	Jennifer Lame
Studio	Syncopy Atlas Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	July 11, 2023 (2023-07-11) (Le Grand Rex) July 21, 2023 (2023-07-21) (United States and United Kingdom)
Running time	180 minutes
Country	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
Money made	$960.8 million

Oppenheimer is a 2023 epic biographical drama film written, directed, and produced by Christopher Nolan, 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. Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film chronicles the career of J. Robert Oppenheimer, with the story predominantly focusing on his studies, his direction of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II, and his eventual fall from grace due to his 1954 security hearing. The film also stars Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife Kitty, Matt Damon as head of the Manhattan Project Leslie Groves, and Robert Downey Jr. as United States Atomic Energy Commission member Lewis Strauss. The ensemble supporting cast includes Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.

The film was announced in September 2021 after Universal Pictures won a bidding war for Nolan's screenplay. It is Nolan's first film not distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures since Memento (2000), due to his conflicts regarding the studio's simultaneous theatrical and HBO Max release schedule. Murphy was the first cast member to sign on the following month, with the rest of the cast joining between November 2021 and April 2022. Pre-production was under way by January 2022, and filming took place from February to May 2022. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, a common collaborator with Nolan, filmed Oppenheimer in a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film, including, for the first time, scenes in IMAX black-and-white film photography. Nolan, akin to many of his previous films, made voluminous usage of practical effects, with minimal compositing work to incorporate and refine them. The film was Nolan's first to receive an R-rating in the United States since Insomnia in 2002.

Oppenheimer premiered at Le Grand Rex in Paris on July 11, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States and the United Kingdom ten days later by Universal. Its concurrent release with Warner Bros.'s Barbie was the catalyst of the "Barbenheimer" cultural phenomenon, encouraging audiences to see both films as a double feature. The film grossed over $960 million worldwide, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2023, the highest-grossing World War II-related film, the highest-grossing biographical film, and the second-highest-grossing R-rated film. It received critical acclaim for the screenplay, score, visuals, and acting.

Among its many awards, Oppenheimer was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, atop five wins at the 81st Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture – Drama), seven wins at the 77th British Academy Film Awards (including Best Film), three wins at the SAG Awards (including Best Ensemble), as well as attaining a leading 13 nominations at the 96th Academy Awards, winning seven for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Murphy, Best Supporting Actor for Downey Jr., Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.

Cast

Cillian Murphy (L) plays J. Robert Oppenheimer (R).

Production

Oppenheimer is the first script written by Christopher Nolan in the first person, as he wanted the narrative to be conveyed from Oppenheimer's perspective. He had also deliberately chosen to alternate between scenes in color and black-and-white, explaining that he wanted the film to be conveyed from both an objective and subjective perspective. Desiring to make the film as subjective as possible, the production team had to decided to visualize Oppenheimer's conceptions of the quantum world and waves of energy. He had begun by trying to find the "thread that connected the quantum realm, the vibration of energy, and Oppenheimer's own personal journey" and had sought to portray the difficulties in his life. Additionally, he was also inspired by his fears of nuclear holocaust, as he had lived during the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the anti-nuclear protests in RAF Greenham Common, noting that "while our relationship with that fear has ebbed and flowed with time, the threat itself never actually went away". Emily Blunt had described the script as being "emotional" and resembling that of a thriller film. She had also commented that she felt Nolan had "Trojan-Horsed a biopic into a thriller".

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. Nolan had called Murphy one day requesting him to play the part, and Murphy had enthusiastically accepted his offer and was excited to play a lead role in a Nolan film. Afterwards, Nolan flew to Dublin to meet with Murphy, who had read the script in his hotel room by September 2020. The casting process was so secretive that some of the actors did not know which role they were going to play until they signed on. Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and Emily Blunt took pay cuts to work on the film, earning $4 million each in lieu of their usual $10–20 million salaries.

Filming

Filming took place at the University of California, Berkeley in May 2022.

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. Gary Oldman said he would be on set for a day in May for "one scene, a page and a half". Nolan's eldest daughter, Flora, had also filmed a scene in which she played a young woman in an explosion as part of a vision from Oppenheimer. His intention of including the scene was to convey that "the point is that if you create the ultimate destructive power, it will also destroy those who are near and dear to you" and felt that doing so was the best way of expressing it.

The film used a combination of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film. It is also the first film to shoot sections on IMAX black and white photographic film. In the second week of April, filming took place at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Filming also occurred in California, primarily around the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. Filming was wrapped after four months in May 2022.

Filming involved the use of real explosives to recreate the Trinity nuclear test, forgoing the use of computer-generated graphics. A special set was created with gasoline, propane, aluminum powder, and magnesium being used. While using miniatures for the practical effect, the movie's special effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher referred to them as "big-atures", as the team tried to make the models as large as possible. A whole 1940s-style town was also built from scratch.

Post-production

During post-production, editing was completed by Jennifer Lame, who previously edited Tenet. Visual effects were handled by DNEG, marking their eighth collaboration with Nolan. Andrew Jackson was the visual effects supervisor.

See also

In Spanish: Oppenheimer (película) para niños