Oppenheimer Trivia | 50 facts about the movie

Oppenheimer is an epic biographical film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film is about the theoretical physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Let’s find out about the movie!

1. Oppenheimer is a 2023 epic biographical thriller film.
2. It written and directed by Christopher Nolan.
3. It is based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin about J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who was pivotal in developing the first nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project and thereby ushering in the Atomic Age.
4. The film stars Cillian Murphy as the title character, with a supporting ensemble cast including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.
5. The film is a co-production between Syncopy Inc. and Atlas Entertainment.
6. Christopher Nolan produced the film alongside Emma Thomas and Charles Roven.
7. The film was announced in September 2021 when Universal Pictures won the bidding war.
8. Cillian Murphy was the first member of the cast to join, signing on to portray Oppenheimer in October, while the main cast signed on between November 2021 and April 2022.
9. Pre-production was underway by January 2022 and filming began in the following month and wrapped that May, with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema.
10. It was filmed in a combination of IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film—including, for the first time, sections in IMAX black-and-white analog photography.
11. As with his previous works, Nolan utilised extensive practical effects and minimal computer-generated imagery. In its post-production, editing was completed by Jennifer Lame and the score was composed by Ludwig Göransson, as well as visual effects provided by DNEG.
12. Oppenheimer premiered at Le Grand Rex in Paris on July 11, 2023 and is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United Kingdom and United States on July 21, 2023, by Universal Pictures.
13. It is Nolan’s first film not to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures domestically or internationally since Memento (2000), as well as his first film to receive an R rating since Insomnia (2002).
14. In order for the Black & White sections of the movie to be shot in the same quality as the rest of the film, Kodak developed the first ever B&W film stock for Imax.
15. Producer Charles Roven pitched the film to writer/director Christopher Nolan and producer Emma Thomas by telling them about the biographical book “American Prometheus”.
16. Intrigued by the book, Nolan asked to read it. What helped Nolan to make the decision to direct the film was a book of Oppenheimer’s speeches given to him by actor Robert Pattinson at the wrap party of Nolan’s previous movie, Tenet.
17. Nolan revealed in a Collider interview that there are no CGI shots in the film.
18. The casting of Josh Hartnett marks an interesting “full circle” moment as Hartnett was one of the three finalists to play Batman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins2005) but respectfully declined the role, later going on to say he regretted the decision as he is a huge admirer of Nolan’s work as a filmmaker and wished to build a creative relationship with him. The film will hit theaters on July 21st, 2023, which happens to be Hartnett’s Birthday
19. Second and consecutive collaboration between Christopher Nolan and composer Ludwig Göransson, right after Tenet (2020).
20. Frequent Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer wasn’t available since he was committed with the scores of Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2023) at the time of both Nolan films.
21. Sixth collaboration between Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan.
22. Christopher Nolan’s longest-running film at 180 minutes duration.
23. This will be Christopher Nolan’s sixth film to be shot on IMAX 65mm 15-perf.
24. This will be Christopher Nolan’s second film related to World War II events following Dunkirk (2017).
25. The film is also scheduled to be released exactly 6 years to the day after Dunkirk.
26. Although they previously collaborated in five other movies, this is the first time Cillian Murphy plays the lead in a Christopher Nolan film.
27. While in this film Gary Oldman plays American president Harry S. Truman, Oldman previously played British prime minister Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017) also set during the same war. That movie competed against Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017) during the 2018 awards season, and earned Oldman a Best Actor Academy Award; Nolan was nominated for Best Director, a first in his career, and Best Picture with his wife.
28. Christopher Nolan’s first R-rated film in the USA by the MPAA since Insomnia (2002).
29. Matt Damon was on a break from acting as a promise to his wife, with one condition: it would go on hold if Christopher Nolan called. As luck would have it, Nolan offered Damon the role of Leslie Groves and the break went on hold.
30. J. Robert Oppenheimer was mentioned by name in Nolan’s previous film Tenet (2020) during a conversation between Priya Singh (Dimple Kapadia) and The Protagonist (John David Washington), seemingly indicating that Nolan already had the idea of what his next film was going to be about.
31. The previous Hollywood film dealing with the same theme and main character was “Fat Man and Little Boy” (1989).
32. Fourth collaboration between Christopher Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema. They previously worked in Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017) and Tenet (2020).
33. While Tatlock was 10 years younger than Oppenheimer, Florence Pugh who plays Tatlock here is 20 years younger than Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer.
34. This is Christopher Nolan’s first film not to be produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. Instead, Oppenheimer will be released by Universal Pictures. Prior to this, all of Nolan’s feature films were produced and distributed by Warner Bros. with the exceptions of  Following (1998), which was produced independently before being acquired by IFC Films in 2010 (and distributed on home video by the Criterion Collection in 2012), Memento (2000) which was produced and distributed by Newmarket Films (now owned by Lionsgate), The Prestige (2006), which was co-produced and domestically distributed by Touchstone Pictures while Warner Bros. did international distribution, and Interstellar (2014) which was co-produced and domestically distributed by Paramount Pictures while Warner Bros. handled international distribution.
35. Frequent actor and collaborator in many Christopher Nolan films, Michael Caine does not appear in this one.
36. Third collaboration between Sir Kenneth Branagh and Christopher Nolan after Dunkirk (2017) and Tenet (2020).
37. Fourth collaboration between Gary Oldman and Christopher Nolan after three Batman movies.
38. Christopher Denham has played in TV Series Manhattan (2014) as a physicist (Jim Meeks). With this film he is the only actor who played in both atomic bomb development productions.
39. Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy previously appeared in A Quiet Place 2 (2020).
40. Christopher Nolan became interested in doing a film on J. Robert Oppenheimer after Robert Pattinson gave the book American Prometheus as a gift to Nolan after Tenet (2020) wrapped production. American Prometheus is the biography of Oppenheimer is the book Nolan adapted to make Oppenheimer. Pattinson was offered a chance to be in the film but Nolan claimed he was too busy with other projects.
41. Several cast members, including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Rami Malek, left the UK premiere after the SAG-AFTRA strike was announced, leaving Christopher Nolan alone to address the audience.
42. In the UK, this is Christopher Nolan’s first film to be given a 15 classification by the BBFC since Insomnia (2002), not counting Tenet (2020) since Warner Bros. decided to slightly cut the film to secure a 12 classification instead.
43. When Matt Damon read the script first presented to him by Christopher Nolan, he was flabbergasted to see that it was written in the first person, a format he had never professionally seen before.
44. This is Josh Hartnett’s first WW2 movie since Pearl Harbor (2001), which co-starred Matt Damon’s best friend Ben Affleck.
45. This is Matthew Modine’s second Christopher Nolan movie after The Dark Knight Rises.
46. During an interview with reporter David Martin on CBS Sunday Morning (16 July 2023), director Christopher Nolan pointed out that, the entire reel of IMAX film stock used for the production, is 11 miles long and weighs 600 lbs.
47. While IMAX is frequently used as an elaborate tool for sweeping action set pieces, this biopic is filmed entirely in the format, a rarity in feature films even by today’s standards.
48. At a running time of 180 minutes, this is Christopher Nolan’s longest film to date (2023).
49. Christopher Nolan claimed that the idea to cast Cillian Murphy came to him while looking at the book cover photo of J. Robert Oppenheimer on “American Prometheus” the book upon which the film is based. Wanting to achieve J. Robert Oppenheimer’s gaunt physique Cillian Murphy lost weight and kept to a strict diet during filming.
50. The first ever IMAX film partially shot in 65mm black and white celluloid.