Christopher Nolan is diving back into his reliable bag of actors for his next film. The auteur filmmaker is tackling a particularly explosive subject for his upcoming project, and it will star one of his long-time collaborators in the lead role. Cillian Murphy, who’s been working with Nolan ever since he played Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow inBatman Begins, has just signed on to play the lead in the prolific director’s newest film,Oppenheimer.
Interestingly, this will be Nolan’s first film not distributed by Warner Brothers, insteadgetting nabbed by Universal. The story will center on J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the theoretical physicists responsible for the creation of the atom bomb during World War II. Unlike his most recent surreal offering,Tenet, Nolan now appears to be returning to the historical focus last seen in hiswidely praised 2017 pictureDunkirk.
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The film will be based on the 2005 bookAmerican Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimerby Martin J. Sherwin and Kai Bird. Notably, Sherwin tragically just passed away only last week, so hopefully, the film will do his work and his legacy justice. The title, aside from referring to the mythological figure Prometheus (no,not thatPrometheus,) who stole fire from the gods, also appears to be a reference to a poignant quote regarding the scientists and their creation fromScientific Monthlyin 1945: “Modern Prometheans have raided Mount Olympus again and have brought back for man the very thunderbolts of Zeus.” Fittingly, the book earned several awards, including a Pulitzer in 2006.
Nolan is already busy gathering a team of his other frequent team members, including director of photography Hoyte Van Hoytema (Tenet,Dunkirk,Interstellar) and editor Jennifer Lame (Tenet). He also brought Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson on board, who not only worked on the soundtrack forTenet, but is also incredibly prolific in the entertainment industry, creating music for such projects asBlack Panther,Venom,and evenThe Mandalorian. Pay attention the next time that coolStar Warsintro plays before one of the franchise’s new shows on Disney+. That’s all him.
Oppenheimeris sure to touch on plenty of rather sensitive and spicy topics, particularly ones that have retained their rather high heat levels for many decades. Considering its focus on the creators of one of the most destructive inventions humanity ever devised, it will be interesting to see how Nolan’s thought-provoking filmmaking style will tackle such heavy issues.
But regardless of the poignant nature of the film’s subject matter, it’s still a Nolan movie, and that means it’s going to be one heck of an experience one way or another. Evencritics ofTenettend to admit it was still a visual spectacle, which may or may not have added to the confusion. But considering the grounded nature ofOppenheimer’s story, perhaps it will provide a much more subdued (albeit still entertaining) end product.
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