With production now officially underway, Universal Pictures and Syncopy has released a moody first-look image from Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer featuring Cillian Murphy in the title role of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father” of the atomic bomb.
Along with the image, it has also been announced that Kenneth Branagh has joined Murphy in the cast, reuniting with writer-director Nolan after their previous collaborations on Dunkirk and Tenet.
Branagh’s role is yet to be revealed, but he joins a star-studded cast that includes Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place Part II), Matt Damon (Stillwater), Robert Downey Jr. (Avengers: Endgame), Florence Pugh (Black Widow), Rami Malek (No Time to Die), Benny Safdie (Licorice Pizza), Dane DeHaan (Lisey’s Story), Jack Quaid (The Boys), and Matthew Modine (The Dark Knight Rises).
Specific plot details are being kept under wraps, but the film will tell the story of nuclear physicist Oppenheimer, director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, which led development on the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II. The official logline reads:
“The IMAX-shot epic thriller thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.”
Oppenheimer is currently set for release on July 21st, 2023.
