After a lot of anticipation, Christopher Nolan just dropped the first trailer for his World War II movie Oppenheimer—and let’s just say it’s explosive. Oppenheimer sees Cillian Murphy take on the role of a titular scientist who’s still remembered as “the father of the atomic bomb.”
Nolan drew inspiration from the book American Prometheus, written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, to look back at J. Robert Oppenheimer’s life and legacy, including his time as the head of the Manhattan Project, which developed the first nuclear weapons during World War II, culminating in the creation of the atomic bomb.
“We imagine a future, and our imaginings horrify us… Theory will take you only so far. I don’t know if we can be trusted with such a weapon, but we have no choice. Is anyone ever going to tell the truth about what’s happening here?” Murphy’s Oppenheimer says in the trailer.
Like all of Nolan’s films, Oppenheimer will be a visual feast and he got there through the use of practical effects. Nolan revealed that he used real explosives to recreate the Trinity nuclear test, instead of relying on CGI like most modern filmmakers.
Oppenheimer will premiere on July 21, 2023 and its star-studded cast includes the likes of Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, and Kenneth Branagh.