Oppenheimer Trailer: Christopher Nolan's Explosive Biopic Is Coming
We're only a few months away from the release of Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," which will show the world the story of the man who changed it (for the worse) and a new three-minute trailer is here to give us a look at what we can expect.
As you might've guessed by the name, "Oppenheimer" is about J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Nolan regular Cillian Murphy), the greatest contributor to the creation of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer famously declared, "Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds" and the film will chronicle how he helped build the monster he came to abhor.
"Oppenheimer" will be Nolan's second World War II-set period piece after "Dunkirk," and it'll have plenty of his other trademarks as well. It was filmed in 65mm (both IMAX and large-format), shot by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Nolan's DP since "Interstellar"), and scored by Ludwig Göransson (who also composed the score for "Tenet").
Murphy is at the head of a truly enormous ensemble, including Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife Kitty, Matt Damon as Manhattan Project director Leslie Groves, and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, the head of the 1954 security hearing which investigated Oppenheimer. All these famous faces are just small players in a larger project.
A race against the Nazis
There were two previous trailers for "Oppenheimer." The first was released in July 2022 and shown in theaters ahead of "Nope." When watched online, the trailer plays in a loop. It includes a constantly-updating countdown to 5:29 am MST on July 16, 2023 (the day the atomic bomb detonated). This teaser showed the film's black-and-white photography. Christopher Nolan had previously used that color palette in his earlier, independent films — "Following" and "Memento" — but has shied away from it since.
The first full-length two-minute trailer came in December 2022 and was shown in front of "Avatar: The Way of Water." That trailer used more of the film's in-color scenes than the announcement teaser. The newest three-minute trailer continues that trend, with Oppenheimer noting that they are in "a race against the Nazis," Groves wondering about their chances of destroying the world, and Strauss asking Oppenheimer at the hearing that President Truman wants to know "what's next." The trailer doesn't answer, as it counts down to the test blast.
This third "Oppenheimer" trailer comes on the back of a recent footage presentation at CinemaCon — there's a bit of overlap here but it's not the same thing. The new trailer also gives us a peek at the atomic bomb test itself, the one that Nolan impressively has recreated without CGI. That sounds almost as difficult as building the bomb itself.
"Oppenheimer" debuts in theaters on July 21, 2023.