Written and directed by Christopher Nolan Oppenheimer The focus is on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the American atomic bomb. And alongside Cillian Murphy in the lead role, the cast includes Casey Affleck, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Rami Malek and Florence Pugh.
Matt Damon and Cillian Murphy PHOTO SUPPLIED BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Here are five production secrets from the film.
Robert Pattinson…
If Oppenheimer was born, it’s thanks to Robert Pattinson. In fact, at the end of filming, the “Tenet” actor gifted a collection of Oppenheimer’s speeches to Christopher Nolan as a nod to the scientist reference in the sci-fi feature. Christopher Nolan was passionate about the book, describing the goal he had set with Oppenheimer: “I wanted to take the viewer into the brain and life of the person who is at the center of the greatest upheaval in history.” Whether it is Like it or not, J. Robert Oppenheimer is the most important person who ever lived. He created the world we live in, for better or for worse. And his story has to be seen to be believed.”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Batman
“I met Chris 20 years ago and was already a fan of his work because I had seen Memento and Insomnia,” explained Cillian Murphy. He’s kept an unforgettable memory of that meeting ever since he passed the auditions for Batman: The Beginning to try and land the role of…Batman. Eventually, the filmmaker cast him for Scarecrow. “If Christopher Nolan asks you anything, no matter how important the role, we’ll assume. I never expected him to call me and offer me the role of Oppenheimer, but he did. When I hung up, I sat completely still, stunned. I felt so lucky. Then we got to work.”
Cillian Murphy and director Christopher Nolan on the set. PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES
reconstruction
The Manhattan Project, a top-secret atomic bomb development project, had established its headquarters in Los Alamos, a city in New Mexico. Christopher Nolan considered placing his IMAX cameras on site as several buildings from the period remain. Unfortunately, the presence of newer structures – including a Starbucks – would have forced post-production teams to remove them during editing, adding $100 million to the budget. So the set designers built the exteriors at Ghost Ranch in the same state while the interiors were shot in Los Alamos. Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt, who plays his wife, therefore filmed scenes in the former Oppenheimer house.
Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy. PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES
No to the army
Christopher Nolan has received permission to shoot at White Sands, the site of the first nuclear test, which Oppenheimer codenamed Trinity. However, since the location is still an active military base to this day, the production should have cut off all contact with the outside world and stopped filming for about eight hours a day, which was not possible. So the filmmaker decided to have his own version of Trinity built in Belen, New Mexico.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Not a computer generated image
From the start of production, Christopher Nolan and his cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema, and special effects directors Scott Fisher and Andrew Jackson, communicated that there would be no computer-generated imagery. The two men then undertook a series of tests to recreate the nuclear explosion and its signature mushroom in IMAX format. They tried throwing paint at a wall, crushing ping-pong balls, etc., and the method used by the special effects supervisors remains a mystery!
Oppenheimer hits screens across the province on July 21.