Oppenheimer was announced in September 2021. It was Nolan's first film not distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures sinceMemento (2000), due to his conflicts regarding the studio's simultaneous theatrical andHBO Max release schedule.[9] Murphy was the first cast member to join, with the rest joining between November 2021 and April 2022. Pre-production began by January 2022, and filming took place from February to May. Thecinematographer,Hoyte van Hoytema, used a combination ofIMAX 65 mm and65 mm large-format film, including, for the first time, selected scenes in IMAXblack-and-whitefilm photography. As with many of his previous films, Nolan used extensive practical effects, with minimalcompositing.
After being cleared, Oppenheimer reunites with Jean in a San Francisco hotel room. He inadvertently reveals to army personnel that Soviet spies at Berkeley are seeking information about the US war effort. When questioned, he refuses to divulge his source, wanting to protect his friend Chevalier. At Los Alamos,Niels Bohr brings news that the German nuclear program 'took a wrong turn', causing the US to lead the race. Oppenheimer is disturbed by news of Jean's sudden death, ruled to be a suicide[a] though Oppenheimer blames himself. Meanwhile, Teller attempts to leave the project after his proposal to construct ahydrogen bomb is rejected, but Oppenheimer convinces him to stay.
AfterGermany's surrender in 1945, scientists question the bomb's relevance. Oppenheimer conveys their misgivings to the war council, who are certain the use of the bomb would end theongoing Pacific War and save lives. TheTrinity test is successful, and PresidentHarry S. Truman orders theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.Japansurrenders and Oppenheimer is publicly praised, though he is guilt-ridden by the destruction and mass fatalities. Oppenheimer expresses remorse to Truman, but is berated by the president for his plea to cease further atomic development.
Oppenheimer's stance against Teller's hydrogen bomb generates controversy amidst the burgeoningCold War, especially after the Sovietsdetonate their own plutonium bomb. AEC Chairman Strauss gets increasingly frustrated with Oppenheimer for recommending negotiations with theSoviet Union, and orchestrates akangaroo courthearing to eliminate Oppenheimer's political influence. Oppenheimer's past communist ties are raised and his associates' testimony is twisted against him. After Kitty, Rabi and Groves vigorously defend Oppenheimer, the board no longer suspects him of disloyalty but stillrevokes his clearance.
At Strauss's nomination hearing, Hill testifies about Strauss's personal motives behind Oppenheimer losing his clearance. Strauss's nomination is voted down, and in 1963, PresidentLyndon B. Johnson presents Oppenheimer with theEnrico Fermi Award. Flashing back to 1947,Albert Einstein had predicted to Oppenheimer his eventual reconciliation with the US government. Their talk veers to the initial concern that a nuclear weapon would cause atmospheric ignition. Though that never happened, Oppenheimer concludes that his work has indeed started achain reaction that would one daydestroy the world.
Kurt Koehler as Thomas A. Morgan, anindustrialist and former chairman of the board of theSperry Corporation who was one of the panel members at Oppenheimer's security clearance hearing.[31][32]
John Gowans asWard V. Evans, a chemist and academic who served as one of the panel members at Oppenheimer's security clearance hearing.[33]
Jack Quaid asRichard Feynman, an American Nobel-winning theoretical physicist who worked in the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos.[45]
Gustaf Skarsgård asHans Bethe, a German-American Nobel-winning theoretical physicist and the head of the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos.[46]
James Urbaniak asKurt Gödel, an Austrian logician and mathematician known for his theorems that revolutionized mathematics and had far-reaching implications for philosophy and computer science.[34]
Jessica Erin Martin asCharlotte Serber, head technical librarian at Los Alamos.[49]
Ronald Auguste asJ. Ernest Wilkins Jr., an African American nuclear scientist, mechanical engineer and mathematician who worked with Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project.[49]
Gary Oldman asHarry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States who made the decision to drop the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.[52]
DirectorSam Mendes was interested in adapting the 2005J. Robert Oppenheimer biographyAmerican Prometheus byKai Bird andMartin J. Sherwin. After that project failed to materialize, the book wasoptioned by various filmmakers over the next fifteen years. The authors became pessimistic about a film adaptation.Oliver Stone declined an opportunity to direct, saying "I couldn't find my way to its essence".[54][55] In 2015, J. David Wargo optioned the book, then commissioned and rejected several scripts. During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Wargo flew toHollywood to meet with actorJames Woods, who set up a meeting withCharles Roven, a producer for variousChristopher Nolan films, and in turn, Roven gave a copy of the book to Nolan. Both Wargo and Woods are executive producers of the film.[55] Woods said he was asked not to promote the film because his outspoken political views posed a risk to the film's commercial success and awards campaign.[56]
Nolan had long desired to make a film about Oppenheimer, even prior to readingAmerican Prometheus.[57] In 2019, towards the end of production on Nolan'sscience-fiction filmTenet (2020), starRobert Pattinson gave him a book of Oppenheimer's speeches. According to Nolan, the speeches showed Oppenheimer "wrestling with the implications ... of what's happened and what [he's] done". Nolan wanted to depict "what it would have been like to be Oppenheimer in those moments", in contrast toTenet, which employstime travel to curb a potentialweapon of mass destruction.[58][5]
In December 2020,Warner Bros. Pictures announced plans to give its 2021 films simultaneous releases in theaters and onHBO Max, citing theimpact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry. Nolan, who had partnered with Warner Bros. on each of his films sinceInsomnia (2002), was outraged, as he was a staunch supporter of traditional film exhibition.[59] In January 2021, media reports mentioned the possibility that Nolan's next film could be the first not to be financed or distributed by Warner Bros.[60] By mid-2021, Nolan had left Warner Bros. and was meeting with other studios to develop his new project.[5] Nolan had previously supported Warner Bros.' decision to giveWonder Woman 1984 (2020) a simultaneous release, saying he felt that situation had been handled properly, but said he had been excluded from any discussions regarding the postponed release ofTenet.[61][62]
In September 2021, it was announced that Nolan would write and direct a biographical film about Oppenheimer and his contributions to theManhattan Project, with Cillian Murphy in negotiations to star.[63][64] Due to his strained relationship with Warner Bros., Nolan approached multiple studios, includingSony,Universal,Paramount, andApple.[65][66] According to insiders, Paramount was ruled out early in the process due to the replacement of the CEO and chairman,Jim Gianopulos, withBrian Robbins, an advocate for increased streaming-service releases.[66]
Nolan signed with Universal because he had previously worked withDonna Langley, chairwoman and chief content officer of theNBCUniversal studio group, on an unsuccessful attempt to make a film version of the British television seriesThe Prisoner.[67] Langley agreed with Nolan's stance on traditional film exhibition and Universal agreed to finance and distributeOppenheimer, with production set to begin in the first quarter of 2022.[68] Universal also agreed to Nolan's terms, which included a production budget of $100 million,[69] an equal marketing budget, an exclusive theatrical window ranging from 90 to 120 days, 20% of the film'sfirst-dollar gross, and a three-week period both before and after the opening, in which Universal could not release another new film.[66][5]
Nolan became aware of Oppenheimer as a youth, after hearing the lyric "How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy?" in theSting song "Russians" (1985).[70] He was also inspired by hisfears of nuclear holocaust throughout childhood, as he lived during the era ofCampaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and theanti-nuclear protests inRAF Greenham Common. He felt that "while our relationship with that [nuclear] fear has ebbed and flowed with time, the threat itself never actually went away", and felt the 2022Russian invasion of Ukraine had caused a resurgence of nuclear anxiety.[58] Nolan had also penned a script for a biopic ofHoward Hughes approximately during the time of production ofMartin Scorsese'sThe Aviator (2004), which had given him insight on how to write a script regarding a person's life.[57]Emily Blunt described theOppenheimer script as "emotional" and remarked that Nolan had "Trojan-Horsed a biopic into a thriller".[71]
By September 2021, both Roven and Nolan had begun contacting Bird and Sherwin to discuss the script. During Bird's first meeting with Nolan, he had already written aspec script while they discussed the script's content, although Nolan did not disclose the script to them yet.[72]Oppenheimer is the first screenplay written by Nolan in thefirst person, as he wanted the narrative to be conveyed from Oppenheimer's perspective. He described the "texture" of the film being "how the personal interacts with the historic and the geopolitical" with the intention of making it acautionary tale.[57][73][74] He began developing the script after he completedTenet and wrote it in only a few months; he had already been thinking about making a film about Oppenheimer for over 20 years.[57]
A major plot element is Oppenheimer's response to the long-term consequences of his actions. Nolan wished to explore the phenomenon of delayed reactions, as he felt people are not "necessarily confronted with the strongest or worst elements of [their actions] in the moment".[70] He also chose to alternate between scenes in color andblack-and-white to convey the story from both subjective and objective perspectives, respectively,[75] with most of Oppenheimer's view shown via the former, while the latter depicts a "more objective view of his story from a different character's point of view".[76][70] Wanting to make the film as subjective as possible, the production team decided to include visions of Oppenheimer's conceptions of the quantum world and waves of energy.[77] Nolan noted that while Oppenheimer never publicly apologized for his role in theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he still believed Oppenheimer had felt genuine guilt for his actions and thus portrayed him as exhibiting those feelings.[78]
I think of any character I've dealt with, Oppenheimer is by far the most ambiguous and paradoxical. Which, given that I've madethree Batman films, is saying a lot.
Nolan began by trying to find the "thread that connected the quantum realm, the vibration of energy, and Oppenheimer's own personal journey" and sought to portray the difficulties in his life, particularly regarding his sex life.[58] As such, Nolan wanted to candidly portray his affair withJean Tatlock. He also wanted to explore Tatlock's influence on Oppenheimer's life, since she was a Communist, which had "enormous ramifications for [Oppenheimer's] later life and his ultimate fate".[79] Nolan also sought to explore the relationship between Oppenheimer and AdmiralLewis Strauss, former chair of theU.S. Atomic Energy Commission, having been inspired by the relationship betweenWolfgang Amadeus Mozart andAntonio Salieri as depicted inAmadeus (1984).[70]
Another critical moment of the film was the meeting in which PresidentHarry S. Truman called Oppenheimer a "crybaby". Nolan wanted to convey the scene from Oppenheimer's perspective and felt it was a "massive moment of disillusion, a huge turning point [for Oppenheimer] in his approach to trying to deal with the consequences of what he'd been involved with", while also underscoring that it is a "huge shift in perception about the reality of Oppenheimer's perception".[57] He wanted to execute a quick tonal shift after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, desiring to go from the "highest triumphalism, the highest high, to the lowest low in the shortest amount of screen time possible".[74] For the ending, Nolan chose to make it intentionally vague to be open to interpretation and refrained from being didactic or conveying specific messages in his work. However, he did have the intention to present a "strong set of troubling reverberations at the end".[78]
Oppenheimer marks the sixth collaboration between Nolan and Cillian Murphy, and the first starring Murphy as the lead. To prepare for the role, Murphy read extensively on Oppenheimer's life and was inspired byDavid Bowie's appearance in the 1970s.[80][10][70] Nolan called Murphy one day to ask him to play the part, and Murphy enthusiastically accepted, excited to play a lead role in a Nolan film. Afterward, Nolan flew to Dublin to meet with Murphy, who read the script in Nolan's hotel room.[81] Murphy lost an undisclosed amount of weight for the role in order to better match the real-life Oppenheimer's gaunt appearance.[82] Nolan also set up a phone call between Murphy and Nobel laureateKip Thorne, who had previously worked with Nolan onInterstellar (2014).[57] As a graduate student, Thorne had attended some of Oppenheimer's seminars, and explained to Murphy his experience with Oppenheimer's gift for facilitating group discussions of difficult scientific concepts.[57]
The casting process was so secretive that some cast members did not know which role they would be playing until they signed on.[37]Robert Downey Jr.,Matt Damon, andEmily Blunt took pay cuts to work on the film, with each earning $4 million in lieu of their usual $10–20 million upfront salary.[83] Downey went to Nolan's house to read the script, which was printed in black on red paper.[84] Downey would later describeOppenheimer as "the best film" in which he has appeared to date.[85] Downey previously met with Nolan for the role ofJonathan Crane / Scarecrow inBatman Begins (2005), but Nolan felt Downey wasn't right for the role, which went to Murphy.[86] Blunt met Nolan in Los Angeles and, when she was offered the role ofKatherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, she enthusiastically accepted; she also contacted Murphy to get an expectation of what working with Nolan would be like.[84] Asked to play the part ofLeslie Groves, Damon—who had appeared in Nolan'sInterstellar—was taking a break from acting as a result of negotiations with his wife Luciana Bozán Barroso incouples therapy, but signed on toOppenheimer as he had reserved one exception: if Nolan offered him a role in a film.[87]
Nolan cast writer-directorBenny Safdie as physicistEdward Teller after asking directorPaul Thomas Anderson about his experience directing Safdie inLicorice Pizza (2021).[88] Safdie had worked alongside a nuclear physicist atColumbia University while in high school.[70] It is Nolan's first film sinceInsomnia (2002) to not featureMichael Caine.[89]Glen Powell auditioned and was rejected for the role that went toJosh Hartnett.[90] For Harry S. Truman's appearance, Nolan sought his collaboratorGary Oldman, who was on a break from filming theApple TV+ seriesSlow Horses (2022–present); Oldman told Nolan that he was contractually obliged to not cut his hair, so either he could play Truman with a prosthetic cap and a wig or get someone else to play the part, which Nolan agreed.[91]
Pre-production had begun by January 2022 in New Mexico, where a two-day casting call took place inSanta Fe andLos Alamos for people to audition to play local residents, military personnel, and scientists.[92][93] Another casting call was held in February.[94]
Principal photography began on February 28, 2022, atGhost Ranch in New Mexico,[95] and lasted for 57 days withHoyte van Hoytema serving as cinematographer.[82][24] The originalshooting schedule had set aside approximately 85 days for filming.[96] However, during pre-production, it had become clear that principal photography could not be completed within $100 million over that many days on location all over theUnited States.[96] To efficiently use the budget forlocation shooting in California and New Jersey and constructing high-quality historically accurate sets in New Mexico, Nolan compressed the shooting schedule from 85 to 57 days.[96][97] Murphy, who appears in nearly every scene, described the pace as "insane".[96]
Oldman said he would be on set for a day in May for "one scene, a page and a half".[52] The original choice forOval Office location in theNixon Presidential Library fell through a week before filming, and since Oldman's dates were unmovable, the production design team redressed the Oval Office set from theHBO seriesVeep (2012–2019), which according to Ruth De Jong had fallen into "nightmarish" disrepair.[98] Nolan filmed his eldest child, his daughter Flora, in a scene in which she played a young woman disintegrated in a nuclear explosion. It appears in the film as one of Oppenheimer's visions, in which Nolan intended to show "that if you create the ultimate destructive power, it will also destroy those who are near and dear to you".[58]
Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema won several awards for his work onOppenheimer, including anAcademy Award.[99]
During a 2021 research trip, Nolan discovered that Los Alamos had drastically changed from its 1940s appearance and could not be used for exterior shots of the town; for example, the town's equivalent of aMain Street has aStarbucks.[95] Instead, the production team constructed a version of 1940s-era Los Alamos on top of a similar plateau at Ghost Ranch.[95] It took three months to build the set, which was used for only six shooting days.[95] The general plan was to shoot only exterior shots on the set at Ghost Ranch, then shoot interior shots on location inside various historic buildings in the real town of Los Alamos.[110] Interior shooting in Los Alamos began on March 8, 2022.[95] Many scenes in the film take place in academic lecture halls; to save time and money, the production team decided against attempting to reconstruct those halls as sets at Ghost Ranch, and shot them inside a historicWomen's Army Corps dormitory in Los Alamos.[95] Scenes were also filmed in Oppenheimer's original cabin in Los Alamos, which had been restored.Kai Bird visited the set and was impressed by Murphy's performance.[111] The New York hotel scenes were shot in Albuquerque'sOld Post Office building, while the Washington, D.C. scenes were shot in state government buildings in the state capital of Santa Fe.[110]
Although the news coverage surrounding the film's release implied that most of the film was shot in New Mexico, the official making-of bookUnleashing Oppenheimer revealed that many of the film's most important scenes were shot within thestudio zone inLos Angeles County. Early on, three days were set aside for filming atUCLA's Kerckhoff Hall, which was used for both the Cambridge and Göttingen scenes.[112] TheMillennium Biltmore Hotel inDowntown Los Angeles stood in for theMark Hopkins Hotel for one of Oppenheimer's encounters with Tatlock, for thePlaza Hotel for Strauss's 1949 birthday celebration,[113] and for an unnamed Washington, D.C. hotel for the scene where Szilard and Hill try to get Oppenheimer to sign a petition against dropping the bomb on Japan.[114] Oppenheimer's security hearing was shot inAlhambra, California, in a "disused office building in the former manufacturing headquarters for the petrochemical company C.F. Braun & Co."[115] The scene in which Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked was shot on May 19, 2022, the production's last day in Alhambra.[116]
Filming involved the use of real explosives to recreate theTrinity nuclear test, forgoing the use ofcomputer-generated graphics.[117] When this news first broke online, many fans (aware of Nolan's famous preference for in-camera practical effects) thought it meant he had set off a real atomic bomb.[5] Nolan later remarked that it was both "flattering" and "scary" that his fans would think that of him.[5] The production team was able to obtain government permission to film atWhite Sands Missile Range, but only at highly inconvenient hours, and therefore chose to film the scene elsewhere in the New Mexico desert.[5][110] The production filmed the Trinity test scenes inBelen, New Mexico, with Murphy climbing a 100-foot steel tower, a replica of the original site used in the Manhattan Project, in rough weather.[5][110] A special set was built in which gasoline,propane,aluminum powder, andmagnesium were used to create the explosive effect.[58] Although they used miniatures for the practical effect, the special effects supervisor, Scott R. Fisher, referred to them as "big-atures", since the special effects team had tried to build the models as physically large as possible. To make the models look closer to their intended real-life size, the team usedforced perspective.[118][119] Visualizations of the interactions between atoms, molecules and energy waves, as well as the depiction of stars, black holes and supernovas, were also achieved through practical methods. Nolan claimed the film contains no computer-generated effects,[120] and used practical effects to achieve "real-world imagery".[121]
The last portion of principal photography was for Nolan and van Hoytema to travel to Europe to obtainestablishing shots for the early European phase of Oppenheimer's life. For example, they did not bother with shooting in any actual part of the University of Cambridge; "van Hoytema simply set up a camera acrossthe river".[122] Filmingwrapped in May 2022.[123]
Editing was completed byJennifer Lame, who had previously editedTenet.[10] While inspecting the footage during editing, Nolan and Lame performed "character passes" to ensure all the characters were properly displayed on screen, due to the film having a faster pace than most traditional blockbusters.[70]Visual effects were handled byDNEG, which produced more than 100 VFX shots from more than 400 practically shot elements,[124] marking their eighth collaboration with Nolan.Andrew Jackson was the visual effects supervisor,[125] who stated that the film used mostly "invisible" visual effects through "'in-camera' special effects created on set".[126] Digitalcompositing was used for the Trinity scene to add multi-layers to the explosion which was shot in a multifaceted viewpoint.[127] There were 160 VFX artists who worked on the film, 134 of whom were left uncredited.[128]
Steven Spielberg was the first person to see the final cut, in a private screening of its first 70mm print. Nolan said: "He said some very kind things, but really just to watch him watch ... I wasn't even supposed to watch it with him, but seeing the great master watching? It was sort of irresistible."[129][130]
Ludwig Göransson composed the score for the film, after doing so for Nolan's previous film,Tenet.[10] Göransson's score was featured in a trailer for the film on May 8, 2023.[131] It was also featured in the Universal Pictures exclusive five-minute Opening Look on July 13.[132][133] Nolan had advised him to use a solo violin for Oppenheimer's central theme in the film, with Göransson remarking that he had felt that it could go from "the most romantic, beautiful tone in a split second to neurotic and heart wrenching, horror sounds".[70]
The score "is integral to the film ... which contains almost wall-to-wall music". Göransson estimates that music is played for at least 2.5 hours of the film, which is more than 83% of its length.[134]
Oppenheimer's teaser trailer was released on July 28, 2022, featuring a live countdown to 5:29 a.m. (MDT) on July 16, 2023, the 78th anniversary ofthe first detonation of an atomic weapon; it premiered in screenings ofNope before being posted online on Universal's social media profiles.[135]Empire commented that it is exemplary of Nolan's style: "heady, brooding stuff with a real sense of weight".[136]
In December 2022, two trailers premiered in front ofAvatar: The Way of Water, with one being exclusive to IMAX theaters and the other being shown in all other formats. The latter was eventually released online.[137][138] In May 2023, an official main trailer debuted during preview screenings ofGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It was subsequently released to the public on May 8, 2023, alongside a theatrical release poster.[139]
Oppenheimer had its world premiere atLe Grand Rex in Paris on July 11, 2023,[140] followed by the British premiere atOdeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on July 13,[141] and the American premiere atAMCLincoln Square 13 in New York City on July 17.[142] Both the London and the New York premieres were affected by theSAG-AFTRA strike, as some actors left the London premiere early,[141] and Universal Pictures canceled thered carpet event for the New York premiere.[142]SAG-AFTRA PresidentFran Drescher later claimed the studios "duped" the guild into accepting a twelve-day-extension for negotiations to continue promoting summer films likeOppenheimer.[143]Oppenheimer was released theatrically on July 21, 2023, by Universal Pictures.[10][144] In addition to standarddigital cinemas, it was also released in various film formats including IMAX 70 mm (30 prints),standard 70 mm (113 prints) and35 mm (around 80 prints).[145]
The film was released on the same day asBarbie, afantasycomedy film directed byGreta Gerwig based onMattel'sBarbie fashion dolls and media franchise, and distributed by Warner Bros. Many speculated that the decision by Warner Bros. to releaseBarbie on the same day asOppenheimer was made in order to deplete ticket sales ofOppenheimer as retaliation for Nolan releasing the film with Universal.[146] Due to the tonal and genre dissonance between the two films, many social media users createdmemes about how the two films appealed to different audiences,[147] and how they should be viewed as adouble feature.[148] The trend was dubbed "Barbenheimer",[149] and was described ascounterprogramming during a summer of "entertainment industry meltdown".[150] Cillian Murphy had endorsed the phenomenon, saying "My advice would be for people to go see both, on the same day. If they are good films, then that's cinema's gain."[151]
In March 2022, Universal Pictures halted the release of its titles in Russia, joining other major American film distributors in theboycott against the country followingits invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.[152]Oppenheimer had also been banned by Russia'sMinistry of Culture, which had refused to license screenings of the film, stating that it did not meet their goals of "preserving and strengthening traditional Russian spiritual values".[153]
The film was not released in Japan until eight months after its initial global release.Variety noted the controversial reputation in Japan due to theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A Universal spokesperson said that "plans have not been finalized in all markets". American films are often released in Japan a few months after the initial theatrical release.[154] In December 2023, the independent Japanese film distributor Bitters End announced that it would theatrically release the film in 2024, as Universal's distributor in JapanToho-Towa opted not to release it.[155][156] The film was later released by Bitters End in Japan on March 29, and during its first three days, it was ranked as the country's highest grossing foreign film after making 379.3 million yen ($2.5 million) at the box office.[157][158]
In the United States, the film received anR-rating from theMotion Picture Association for "some sexuality, nudity, and language". It is Nolan's first film to receive that rating sinceInsomnia (2002).[159] In Australia, the film received an MA 15+ rating from theAustralian Classification Board board for "strong sex and a suicide scene".[160] In the United Kingdom, the film received a 15 certificate from theBritish Board of Film Classification for "strong language and sex", meaning anyone under the age of 15 cannot be admitted to view the film.[161] In some countries, including those in the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia, Universal distributed a version of the film with Florence Pugh's nude body covered by a computer-generated black dress.[162][163][164]
In India,Oppenheimer was released with all scenes depicting nudity, sex and cigarette smoking being censored, earning theU/A certificate from theCentral Board of Film Certification (CBFC) while retaining the running time.[165]
The audio of the scene in which Tatlock directs Oppenheimer to read a verse from the Hindu scriptureBhagavad Gita, "I am become Death, destroyer of worlds", remained intact.[166] AsNDTV reported, theMinister for Information and BroadcastingAnurag Thakur questioned how the CBFC certified the film with the verse heard during such circumstance in the first place, and asked the scene to be deleted.[167]Hindu nationalists were angered by the scene and demanded its removal.[168] Among them was journalistUday Mahurkar, who wrote an open letter to Nolan calling the scene a "direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus", and demanded its removal from all releases ofOppenheimer across the world.[166] On the other hand, actorNitish Bharadwaj toldThe Times of India that "The use of this verse in the film should also be understood from Oppenheimer's emotional state of mind. A scientist thinks of his creation 24x7x365 days, irrespective of what he is doing. His mind space is consumed fully of his creation & the physical act is just a natural mechanical act."[169]
Oppenheimer was released onUltra HD Blu-ray, regularBlu-ray andDVD formats includingdigital on November 21, 2023.[170] As the former two releases sold out days after release, Universal worked on restocking before the holiday season.[171] Nolan was vocal during the home release campaign of the film about the importance of physical media libraries, stating that letting films only exist digitally or onstreaming services allows companies to have too much control and creates a danger for film preservation.[172][173] The film was released for streaming in the United States exclusively onPeacock and in Canada onAmazon Prime Video on February 16, 2024.[174][175]Additionally, it began streaming onJio Cinema in India from March 21, 2024.[176] On July 12, 2025,Oppenheimer was released onNetflix in the UK & Ireland.[177]
Oppenheimer grossed $330.1 million in the United States and Canada and $645.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $975.8 million;[6][7] $190 million of which came from IMAX alone.[178] It is thethird-highest-grossing R-rated film of all time behindJoker (2019) andDeadpool & Wolverine (2024).[179][180] In September 2023,Oppenheimer became the highest-grossing biographical film of all time, surpassingBohemian Rhapsody (2018).[181][182]
By August 2023,Oppenheimer had become the highest-grossing film ever to not reach the top spot at the domestic box office, although in its sixth weekend it topped the worldwide box office with a total of $38.12 million, surpassingBarbie for the first time.[183] It is also the highest grossing World War II-related film, surpassingDunkirk (2017), also a Nolan film.[184][185] Additionally,Oppenheimer became one of the top five highest-grossing IMAX releases, earning $183 million[186] (approximately 20% of its total gross), over $17 million of which was earned from the 30 screens showing IMAX 70 mm prints.[187] The film was booked to be rereleased in IMAX theaters on November 3, including six IMAX 70 mm prints, as these theaters reported selling out during the initial release.[186]Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $201.9million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[188]
In the United States and Canada,Oppenheimer was released alongsideBarbie,[189] in what became known as 'Barbenheimer'. The week of their releases,AMC Theatres announced that over 40,000 AMC Stubs members had already pre-booked tickets to both films on the same day.[190] After grossing $33 million on its first day (including $10.5 million from Thursday night previews), it went on to debut to $82.5 million,[191] finishing second behindBarbie and marking one of the best opening weekends ever for an R-rated drama.[192] 64% of the audience was male, with 33% being 18–34 years old. The Barbenheimer phenomenon was credited with boosting interest in the film, with a total of 79% of tickets sold over the weekend being for the two films (27% forOppenheimer), a combined total of 18.5 million people.[193] The opening weekend was Nolan's best for an original film, being the highest of his filmography outside of the latter two films fromThe Dark Knight trilogy.[194] It achieved the third-highest opening weekend for a biopic film, behindThe Passion of the Christ (2004) andAmerican Sniper (2014).[195]
Oppenheimer made $46.2 million in its second weekend (a drop of 44%), remaining in second behindBarbie.[196][197] The film made $28.7 million in its third weekend, finishing third behindBarbie and newcomerMeg 2: The Trench.[198] On August 16,Oppenheimer surpassedSing (2016) to become the highest-grossing film to never reach the number one spot at the box office.[199][200] During its fourth weekend, the film made $18.8 million (a drop of 35%) rising back up to second place.[201] In its fifth and sixth weekends, the film grossed $10.7 million and $9 million (a drop of 43% and 16% respectively), finishing in third and fourth place at the box office and passing $300 million domestically in its sixth weekend.[201] Following its 13 Oscar nominations, the film expanded from 1,008 theaters to 2,262 in its 28th week of release and made $1 million, an increase of 284% from the previous weekend.[202][203]
In Japan,Oppenheimer was released on March 29, 2024.[204][205] Prior to its release, it attracted controversy there, and Warner Bros. issued an apology following criticism of the Barbenheimer phenomenon as insensitive.[206] Despite the outcry, the film would do very well in Japan, grossing $2.5 million and placing third in the country's box office during its opening weekend.[207][208][209]
The film received a range of comments from the Japanese public. Some theaters displayed content warnings for the film.[210] A number of people from Hiroshima who viewed the film reported feeling discomfort and distress while watching it.[211] One point of contention was on the choice to not visually depict thenuclear bombing of Japan. A number of Japanese people praised the choice and others felt that it resulted in the downplaying or glorification of the bombing.[211][212][213]Takashi Hiraoka, former mayor of Hiroshima, reportedly felt that the horror of nuclear weapons had not been sufficiently portrayed in the film.[211][212] A number of people reported feeling that Oppenheimer was glorified in the film for his role in developing the bomb, and a number of people felt that he was also a victim of his circumstances and experienced distress from it.[211][213] Masao Tomonaga, who experienced one of the nuclear bombings, felt that the film was "anti-nuclear" and expressed disappointment in the lack of a scene for the atomic bombing in Japan, but was reportedly satisfied with the portrayal of Oppenheimer's distress after the bombings.[211] A Hiroshima resident was reported advocating for more people to see the film,[211] and another advocated for fewer.[213]
When commenting onOppenheimer's success in the country,USC School of Cinematic Arts' Vice Dean of Faculty, Akira Mizuta Lippit, stated in an article forDeadline Hollywood in May 2024, "Previous films about Japan, good and bad, some offensive or ignorant, have nonetheless enjoyed box office success in Japan," noting how films likePearl Harbor andThe Last Samurai were "embraced by Japanese audiences," whereas other films likeMemoirs of a Geisha were "a little less so."[209]
Outside the United States and Canada,Oppenheimer grossed $98 million in its opening weekend.[214] The following weekend, it earned $77.1 million, dropping by 21% to become Nolan's highest-grossing film in 30 countries, including India, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Turkey.[215] In its third weekend,Oppenheimer grossed $52.8 million (a drop of 31%)[216] and $32 million in its fourth weekend.[217] It held well in the following weeks, making $32 million and $29.1 million in its fifth and sixth weekends.[218][219] As of September 10, 2023, the highest-grossing territories were the UK ($75 million), China ($61.6 million), Germany ($51.9 million), France ($43.1 million) and Australia ($25.9 million).[220]
Oppenheimer received critical acclaim.[b] Critics praised the film primarily for its screenplay, cast performances, and cinematography.[c] It was frequently ranked as one of Nolan's best films,[235][236][227][d] and one of the best of 2023, although some criticism was aimed towards the film's pacing (particularly in the second half) and the writing of the female characters.[231] On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 93% of 508 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Oppenheimer marks another engrossing achievement from Christopher Nolan that benefits from Murphy'stour-de-force performance and stunning visuals."[238]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 90 out of 100, based on 69 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[239] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled byPostTrak gave it a 93% overall positive score, with 74% saying they would definitely recommend the film.[193]
Richard Roeper of theChicago Sun-Times gaveOppenheimer a perfect four out of four, describing it as "magnificent" and "one of the best films of the 21st century".[240]The A.V. Club's Matthew Jackson deemed it a "masterpiece", adding that "it's Christopher Nolan's best film so far, a step up to a new level for one of our finest filmmakers and a movie that burns itself into your brain".[241]Empire's Dan Jolin labeled it a "masterfully constructed character study", taking particular note of Murphy's performance and van Hoytema's IMAX cinematography.[242] Peter Suderman, writing forReason, said that the film leaves the viewer with a sense of "fear and foreboding about the horror of full-on nuclear conflict in the wake of the nuclear bomb. Humanity is both greatand terrible.Oppenheimer isn't just a movie—it's a warning."[243]
Matt Zoller Seitz, writing forRogerEbert.com, awardedOppenheimer a full four out of four rating. He lauded Nolan's storytelling, exploration of Oppenheimer's character and its technical achievements, concluding: "As a physical experience,Oppenheimer is something else entirely—it's hard to say exactly what and that's what's so fascinating about it". He also compared the role of the conversation between Oppenheimer and Einstein in the film to the role of "Rosebud" inCitizen Kane.[244]Peter Travers described the film as a "monumental achievement" and "one of the best films you'll see anywhere".[245]Caryn James ofBBC Culture similarly termed it "boldly imaginative and [Nolan's] most mature work yet", adding that it combined the "explosive, commercially-enticing action ofThe Dark Knight trilogy" with the "cerebral underpinnings" ofMemento,Inception andTenet.[246]IGN critic Siddhant Adlakha rankedOppenheimer 10/10, describing it as "a three-hour biopic that plays like a jolting thriller" and Nolan's most "abstract" work yet.[247]
Despite praising the film's themes and performances,CNN's Brian Lowry believed that "Nolan juggles a lot, in a way that somewhat works to the movie's detriment".[248][249]Owen Gleiberman ofVariety found the film's first half "mesmerizing" and "tick[ing] with cosmic suspense", but wrote that "a certain humming intensity leaks out of the movie" after the Trinity Test sequence, which was itself described as a "letdown".[250]Manohla Dargis ofThe New York Times called the film "a brilliant achievement in formal and conceptual terms", praising Nolan for capturing "the kinetic excitement of intellectual discourse" and comparing the film's complex narrative structure to a "Cubistic portrait". However, she found some of the cameos by supporting actors such as Malek "distracting", and noted that the film's black-and-white scenes could feel "overlong" despite ultimately working in service of Nolan's narrative intentions.[251] In a mixed review, Odie Henderson ofThe Boston Globe called the film "visually stunning but emotionally empty", criticizing Nolan's screenplay for rendering Oppenheimer an "enigma whose inner life is expressed by gimmicky cuts to scenes of outer space rather than evidence of human emotions." Furthermore, Henderson negatively characterized the film's second half as "an interminable series of scenes set in courtrooms and at congressional hearings", and felt Pugh and Blunt were "wasted" in "severely underwritten" roles.[252]Richard Brody ofThe New Yorker described the film as a "History Channel movie with fancy editing" and wrote, "I was tempted to call it a movie-lengthWikipedia article. But after a look online, I realized I was giving Wikipedia too little credit—or Christopher Nolan, the movie's writer and director, too much".[253]
While praising how the film acknowledges the contribution of "American scientists and American enterprise",Brett Mason complained that it omits the crucial contributions of non-Americans who ensured the work was able to commence as early as December 1941: "Nolan completely ignores the crucial role that British science and Australian physicistMark Oliphant played in jump-starting the quest."[254] Writing for theLos Angeles Times,Justin Chang defended Nolan's accurate depiction of how Oppenheimer could not see the true victims of his work. Chang wrote that instead of satisfying "representational completists" by detouring toHiroshima andNagasaki, "Nolan treats them instead as a profound absence, an indictment by silence".[221] Chang later won the 2024Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for that article.[255]
ForIndieWire's annualcritics poll, in which 158 critics and journalists from around the world voted,Oppenheimer was placed second in their Best Film list, with 69 overall mentions and 17 first-place votes. Nolan was also ranked second on the Best Director list, while his screenplay was placed eighth. Murphy was the highest-placed actor on the Best Performance list (fourth overall) while Van Hoytema's work topped the Best Cinematography list.[256]Oppenheimer also appeared in over 410 critics' lists of the best films released in 2023, and was ranked first in 99 of them.[257]
The film garnered significant praise from prominent filmmakers.Oliver Stone deemed the film "a classic, which I never believed could be made in this climate".[258]Paul Schrader calledOppenheimer, "the best, most important film of this century",[259] whileDenis Villeneuve called it "a masterpiece".[260]Steven Soderbergh said of the film, "Oppenheimer is a real accomplishment. I read somewhere that Chris [Nolan] implied that this is the movie he's been building toward, and I think he's right. And I'm thrilled that it's a massive hit."[261]Spike Lee also praised the film, calling it a "great film", but felt that it should have shown what happened to the Japanese people, given the film's length.[262] Japanese directorTakashi Yamazaki said, "As a person of Japanese ancestry and descent, my response toOppenheimer [is that] I would like to dedicate a different film to that when that day comes."[263] Other filmmakers, includingA. V. Rockwell,Joe Dante,Reinaldo Marcus Green,Chad Hartigan,Don Hertzfeldt,Matt Johnson,Raine Allen-Miller,James Ponsoldt andAdam Wingard cited it as among their favorite films of 2023.[264] On the flip side,James Cameron was critical of the film stating "it was a bit of a moral cop out because it's not like Oppenheimer didn't know the effects. He's got one brief scene in the film where we see — and I don't like to criticize another filmmaker's film – but there's only one brief moment where he sees some charred bodies in the audience and then the film goes on to show how it deeply moved him. But I felt that it dodged the subject."[265]
Korean film critic Yim Jeong-sik said "Oppenheimer depicts the tragedy of the combination of science and politics. Oppenheimer developed the atomic bomb to stop theNazis from developingnuclear weapons, but the result was the bomb dropped onJapan and countless casualties. The film coldly shows how science loses its purity and becomes a tool of the state through the process of Oppenheimer's choice combining withAmerica's imperial ambitions."[266]
In August 2023,Oppenheimer ranked number three onCollider's list of "The 20 Best Drama Movies of the 2020s So Far," with the site writing that Nolan "explores the world's obsession with destructive nuclear weapons from the perspective of their creator; using theGreek myth ofDante [sic] as an inspiration,Oppenheimer makes it clear that once this type of power is unleashed, it is bound to be used again."[267]
In June 2025,IndieWire ranked the film at number 54 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)," whileThe New York Times ranked it at number 65 on its list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" .[268][269] In July 2025, it ranked number 86 onRolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."[270]
As of March 2025, there have been continuous efforts to revive and expand the RECA. New Mexico lawmakers expressed, in anon-binding resolution (House Memorial 15), their support for federal legislation to expand compensation for individuals affected by radiation exposure, particularly those involved withuranium mining and Downwinders who were affected by the Trinity test and other related nuclear activities.[272][273][needs update?]
President Truman's portrait of the Argentine leaderJosé de San Martín did not arrive at the White House until 1946, more than a year after his meeting with Oppenheimer.[274][275]
Some scenes in the movie were taken word-for-word out of the book or real life events.[276] Many of the changes are small embellishments or changes from real life. For example, Oppenheimer was not as excited about his discovery of black holes as shown in the film since he did not know how significant it would become. The study was indeed released on the same dayGermany invaded Poland, as shown in the film. During the Trinity test, Donald Hornig had his hand on the kill switch for a faster reaction time and not near it as depicted in the film. Truman did call Oppenheimer a "crybaby" but in a letter toDean Acheson one year later, not immediately after meeting Oppenheimer.[276][277]
It was also pointed out that the incorrectAmerican flag was used. In some shots, the current 50-star flag is shown. This version was not adopted until 1960. During the war, the American flag had only 48 stars as Hawaii and Alaska had yet to become states.[278]
The scene where Oppenheimer poisons his tutor's apple at university is based on accounts that Oppenheimer gave of the incident, but it is unclear whether it occurred in real life.[279] Oppenheimer is depicted as puttingpotassium cyanide in the apple before having a change of heart the next day and narrowly preventing it from being eaten. There is no evidence that Niels Bohr nearly ate the apple or had any involvement in the incident.[276] Oppenheimer and Einstein were friends,[280] but the specific conversations which the film revolves around never happened.[276] Oppenheimer took his concerns about an unstoppable chain reaction to physicistKarl Compton atMIT, not Einstein.[276] Although the film portrays Groves' aggressive recruitment of Oppenheimer,Arthur Compton at theMetallurgical Laboratory had earlier recruited and appointed Oppenheimer to take over the research into the bomb-design part of what became the Manhattan Project.[281]
As Strauss correctly points out in the film's dialogue, Oppenheimer never expressed regret for the atomic bombings, but as Chang explained in his Pulitzer Prize-winning article, the true situation not depicted in the film was that Oppenheimer avoided giving an apology when confronted by a reporter during his 1960 visit to Tokyo and Osaka.[221] In addition to their interpersonal conflicts, Strauss had another reason to undermine Oppenheimer's credibility by revoking his security clearance: Oppenheimer was opposed to further development of thehydrogen bomb by the United States.Scott Sagan describes the loss of Oppenheimer's influence as a possible constraint upon thenuclear arms race between the United States and USSR as a "broader tragedy" less clearly depicted in the film than the scientist's personal tragedy, but he called the production "highly accurate" otherwise for a Hollywood film.[282]
Many efforts undertaken at other Manhattan Project sites likeHanford, Washington andOak Ridge, Tennessee were not shown.[277] Most of them, overseen by GeneralLeslie Groves, focused on understanding and producing the radioactive material that powered the nuclear explosions.[283] In addition to the team at Los Alamos, those working at other Project sites, particularly the University of Chicago'sMetallurgical Laboratory, also expressed concerns about using the atomic bomb against Japan.[284] The film was criticised for its omission of the 30Native American families who were forcibly displaced from Los Alamos in 1942 to make space for the experiment.[285]
Another technical problem accurately represented throughout the film was plutonium production. This can be analyzed through the occurrence of discussions offizzle, ingenuity, engineering breakthroughs and setbacks, and once again, the determination to succeed. The film focused on the great cost it took to obtain the plutonium, as well as the overall process of breeding plutonium.Enrico Fermi, a main scientist involved in theManhattan Project, was the one who discovered that plutonium was the element necessary to produce a spontaneous fission reaction.[286] His contributions to the Manhattan Project were not included in the film as much as they were recognized in real-life.
In the film, a scene depicts the May 31, 1945, meeting of the Interim Committee, which J. Robert Oppenheimer attended as a member of the Scientific Panel of consultants. In this scene, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson is portrayed ordering the removal ofKyoto from the list of top atomic bomb targets, allegedly because it was a favored honeymoon destination for him and his wife. However, historian of science and nuclear weapons,Alex Wellerstein, clarifies that this portrayal is a myth. According to Wellerstein, Stimson's diary from his 1926 travels with his wife does not mention Kyoto, and the only brief visit they made there was in 1929, during a single night stay while on a "fact-finding" mission related to his role asGovernor-General of the Philippines. The film's depiction overlooks that Stimson's objection to targeting Kyoto was primarily strategic rather than personal. He expressed this viewpoint to President Truman on multiple occasions, including at thePotsdam Conference. Stimson wrote in his diary on July 24, 1945, "He [Truman] again reiterated with the utmost emphasis his own concurring belief on that subject, and he was particularly emphatic in agreeing with my suggestion that if elimination was not done, the bitterness which would be caused by such a wanton act might make it impossible during the long post-war period to reconcile the Japanese to us in that area rather than to the Russians."[287][288]
^Although in real life Tatlock's death has officially been ruled a suicide, the film deliberately portrays her death in two ways: in one, she commits suicide, in the other, she ismurdered by an unseen assailant.
^"Schweighöfers nächste große Rolle" [Schweighöfer's next big role].Der Spiegel (in German). November 2, 2022.Archived from the original on February 12, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2023.
^Yim, Jeong-sik (October 4, 2023)."[임정식의 시네마 크리티크] '과학과 제국의 결혼'은 과연 행복한가-<오펜하이머>" [[Im Jeong-sik's Cinema Critic] Is the 'marriage of science and empire' truly happy? - <Oppenheimer>].Le Monde Diplomatique (in Korean). RetrievedOctober 25, 2024.
^Gilinsky, Victor (July 28, 2023)."Thought-provoked by 'Oppenheimer'".Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.Archived from the original on August 6, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 23, 2023.
^Reed, Bruce (2014).The Physics of the Manhattan Project (third ed.). Department of Physics Alma College, Alma Michigan, USA: Springer.ISBN978-3-662-43533-5.
^Wellerstein, Alex (August 8, 2014)."The Kyoto Misconception".Nuclear Secrecy Blog.Archived from the original on April 14, 2024. RetrievedApril 30, 2024.
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