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Contrary to the legion of memes currently dominating social media, those streaming into the theatres to watch Oppenheimer won’t (all) be wearing black. Christopher Nolan’s latest magnum opus about the father of the atomic bomb finally hit theatres today, and tickets, for IMAX screens in particular, are already sold out for the weekend.
The hype around Oppenheimer isn’t surprising; it’s a Nolan film after all and with a star cast rivalling The Avengers. Well, almost. But with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, starring Ryan Reynolds and Margot Robbie offering stiff competition, Oppenheimer has a tougher call than usual to command the silver screen.
But facts are facts, and according to Forbes, Oppenheimer has raked up approximately 360,000 tickets in advanced sales, as compared to Barbie's 91,000. If you’re one of these 360,000 or on your way to increasing the count, here’s everything you need to know before heading to the theatres.
Oppenheimer hits theatres; 10 things to know before watching Christoper Nolan’s explosive film
No one likes spoilers. But it’s also a major buzzkill to feel like a history major in an advanced AIEE masterclass. You don’t need a crash course in theoretical physics (despite the Instagram reels telling you otherwise), but it would be a good call to at least skim through the journey of J. Robert Oppenheimer; both hero and villain of his own story.
Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist who was called in to work on a top-secret government project which included the creation of the world’s first nuclear devices. His contributions as project lead led to the success of the Trinity Test in the deserts of New Mexico — a feat which is explored greatly in the film which stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer. But the ravaging of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 marked a turn in Oppenheimer’s life; the start of lifelong regret. Read here for the real-life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer before you watch the film.
Catching Oppenheimer in the theatres may seem like a great idea for a family outing this Sunday, but maybe don’t take your kids along. The movie, which also features Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and Florence Pugh in pivotal roles, has been rated R for “some sexuality, nudity and language”. It also marks Nolan’s first R-Rated film in 20 Years (since 2022’s Insomnia). Speaking to Insider, Nolan even admitted that he was “appropriately nervous” about directing his ”first-ever" sex scene (between Murphy and Florence Pugh).
With Oppenheimer, Nolan has quite deliberately pushed the boundaries of shooting a film on IMAX cameras. The movie has been shot on a mixture of IMAX cameras using 65mm and 65mm large-format black-and-white film stock, which guarantees to make it an IMAX masterpiece.
Wondering which seat to pick for the best viewing experience? Nolan’s here to help you out. According to a video shared by NowThis, he said: "I like to be in the middle, about a third of the way down from the top. That way you are just above the centre line height-wise. The viewpoint is great and the sound, the low end in particular, the bassy sort of notes, it kind of rolls towards the back”.
How can there be a film about the world’s (arguably) most famous theoretical physicist without a mention of the Father of Modern Physics? Keep a lookout for Albert Einstein, (played by Tom Conti) who will appear, in segments, through the course of the movie as a sort of mentor and confidant to Oppenheimer in real life.
Did you know that Oppenheimer had quoted the Bhagavad Gita after the first successful detonation of the world’s first nuclear weapon? Read here to know exactly which verse he quoted and why.
Nolan’s been known to collaborate with some of the world’s leading composers, but amongst them all, Hans Zimmer remains a top favourite. In fact, Nolan and Zimmer’s iconic collaboration harks back to Batman Begins (2005), following which the duo worked on seven more films. Zimmer’s compositions lend a hefty amount of weight to Nolan’s movies, so don’t miss out on what’s sure to be one of the best OSTs of the year.
Nolan may weave magic with his lens, but his depiction of Oppenheimer’s story is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus, penned by authors Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin over a period of 25 years.
A movie about the man who created the world’s first atomic bomb, which will certainly display the bursting of the said atomic bomb, has not used any CGI for effect. In fact, the internet began far-fetched speculation about whether the director actually dropped a real atom bomb for the Trinity Test segment. Clearing the air on this ridiculous assumption, Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter: “It’s flattering that people would think I would be capable of something as extreme as that on the one hand, but it’s also a little bit scary.”
Oppenheimer marks Nolan’s first foray into the world of biopics and is also his longest film at 3 hours, beating Interstellar which was at 2 hours and 49 minutes — which went on to prove that time isn’t linear… so who's really counting anyway?
