During the holiday rush last month, Universal Studios unveiled a new trailer for Oppenheimer, the new film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. This is Nolan’s first film under the Universal banner after his bitter split from his longtime studio home Warner Bros. The passionate pro-film director was angered by Warner Bros’ decision to release their 2021 theatrical slate day and date on HBO MAX, a controversial move to promote their (then) new streaming service. Nolan took his unique talents elsewhere, with his latest film focusing on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who would be known as the “father of the atomic bomb.”
This new preview is longer, showing much more footage than the vague teaser released last summer. The film boasts an all-star cast with Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Rami Malek, Gary Oldman, and Kenneth Branagh. The trailer is focused almost exclusively on Murphy, a longtime collaborator of Nolan playing the title character. He bears a strong resemblance to the real-life physicist, with shots of him overseeing the assembly of the first atomic bomb, all edited with Nolan’s precision-like visual style. And it’s a foregone conclusion that the movie will explore Oppenheimer’s role in the enigmatic Manhattan Project during World War II.
I’m a huge admirer of director Nolan, but I found his last film TENET a muddled and confusing mess despite some technically stunning action sequences. This new trailer hints at a return to form for the audacious auteur, exploring War World II from a different vantage point than his time-looping epic Dunkirk. And I’m sure Universal will release a more in-depth trailer showing off that impressive high-wattage cast.
Oppenheimer will be released on July 21, 2023. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.
Chad, can’t wait to see what Nolan has in store for us with this one. Funny thing about Tenet…I don’t disagree it was a mess of a story but I thought it was so stylishly done that when it pops up on cable I’ll turn it on…if only to watch just a few minutes of it. I admired the way he used music in the background to drive the film forward and gave even action-less scenes a sense of tension. His movies stay with me long after the viewing, and I can’t say that about every director for sure.
I, too, love Nolan as a director. I enjoyed Tenet from a technical level, but the film left me cold for some reason. Oppenheimer looks right up his wheelhouse, and I can’t wait to check it out.