Christopher Nolan’s upcoming biopic Oppenheimer has received its first official poster, offering fans a potential hint at the tone of the upcoming biopic from the acclaimed director of The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Tenet.
The Universal film is currently in the post-production phase and is scheduled to release one year from now in July 2013, opening against Margot Robbie's Barbie. Nolan’s film will follow J. Robert Oppenheimer, the head of the U.S. government’s scientific mission to develop the first atomic bomb during WWII, known as the Manhattan Project.
The poster was Tweeted by the official Oppenheimer account. In the poster, Oppenheimer is shown in a dramatic silhouette as an atomic explosion swirls around him. The tagline “The World Forever Changes” hovers above. Based on this poster, which shows the brilliant scientist engulfed in the destructive force of his own creation, and the tagline that focuses on the effects of his creation, it seems likely that the film’s plot will focus on Oppenheimer’s regret over the role he played in creating the atomic bomb. Details of the movie have been as heavily protected as the military secrets inside the Manhattan Project’s own laboratories, but the cast list does provide some hints.
Some of the confirmed characters so far are Kenneth Bainbridge (Josh Peck: Drake & Josh, 2012’s Red Dawn), a leading scientist at the Manhattan Project and director of the Trinity Test, who later dedicated his life to ending nuclear tests; Hans Bethe (Gustaf Skarsgård: Westworld, Vikings), the head of the Theoretical Division of the Manhattan Project who later became a major figure in the fight against nuclear proliferation; Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh: Midsommar, Little Women), a communist writer who had a romantic relationship with Oppenheimer; and Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.: Iron Man, Zodiac, Sherlock Holmes), the chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission who called a hearing to revoke Oppenheimer’s security clearance in 1954, largely considered an act of unfounded anti-Communist hysteria.
As these confirmed characters imply, it appears Oppenheimer will have at least some focus on the scientist’s regret, anti-war activities, and alleged communist sympathies. The new poster strengthens this interpretation, with its brooding color palette and sombre Oppenheimer overpowered in the image by the enormity of his creation.
In any case, the poster also confirms that the movie is still a full year away. Fans have yet to see any teasers, and details on the plot and characters are still scarce, but with this first poster already released, we may continue to see more information trickle out. The 77th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima is on August 5th. There’s a possibility that Nolan might reveal more, perhaps even a teaser, on this date.
Oppenheimer is scheduled to release exclusively in theaters on July 21, 2023.
Source: Oppenheimer/Twitter