Universal has released the first teaser of director Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy as the titular theoretical physicist. The brief clip features black and white footage of Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer interspersing with large blasts of fire. As Emily Blunt, who is playing Katherine Oppenheimer says, “The world is changing, reforming. This is your moment.” A countdown appears with the time rapidly decreasing as another voiceover tells, “you gave them the power to destroy themselves.” And another calls Oppenheimer “the most important man who ever lived.” Given Nolan’s penchant for timed themes this countdown takes us to the day “the world changes forever.”
From its first look, Oppenheimer looks nothing less than another Nolan masterpiece. The clock is ticking for a protagonist who is going to change the world forever. As Robert Downey Jr’s, who plays businessman Lewis Strauss, voiceover establishes the theme of the movie and dubs Oppenheimer “The man who moved the earth.” You’ll notice that the YouTube link for Oppenheimer is a live video — that’s because every time you watch it the countdown is decreasing in real-time towards the release date of the film.
The movie is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. Nolan has adapted the screenplay and also serves as the producer of the movie. By the teaser, we can tell both Nolan and Murphy have done extensive research to incorporate the minuscule details about the real scientist. Murphy previously told Variety, “[I prepped by doing] an awful lot of reading.” Further adding, “I’m interested in the man and what [inventing the atomic bomb] does to the individual. The mechanics of it, that’s not really for me — I don’t have the intellectual capability to understand them, but these contradictory characters are fascinating.” Along with the teaser trailer, Universal also released a new image of Murphy as Oppenheimer in Nolan’s heavily stylized black-and-white retro style.
Along with Murphy, Blunt, and Downey Jr., Nolan has engaged an illustrious cast that includes Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock alongside Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz, Michael Angarano and Kenneth Branagh.
The beautiful black and white aesthetics are shot by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema who previously collaborated with the director on the features like Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Tenet. Hoytema’s latest is Jordan Peele’s Nope starring Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya. Other returning collaborators on Nolan’s feature are Tenet editor Jennifer Lame and composer Ludwig Göransson. Notably, the movie marks the director’s first feature at Universal Studios — for the last 20 years, Nolan has only partnered with Warner Bros Studios. He is producing alongside Emma Thomas and Charles Roven.
Oppenheimer opens in theaters next year on July 21. Check out the new “live” trailer below: