Oppenheimer Is Christopher Nolan’s First R-Rated Movie in Two Decades

The IMAX film prints of Oppenheimer are reportedly 11 miles (about 17.7 km) long and weigh nearly 600 pounds (about 272.1 kg).

Written by Rahul Chettiyar, Edited by Ali Pardiwala | Updated: 2 June 2023 11:09 IST

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Oppenheimer explores the politics and drama surrounding the creation of the first atomic bomb

Highlights

Oppenheimer releases July 21 in theatres worldwide
Christopher Nolan’s last R-rated movie was 2002’s Insomnia
It stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and more

Oppenheimer has officially earned an R rating, making it Christopher Nolan's first film since 2002's Insomnia to receive this rating. Variety first reported on it after confirming with Universal Pictures, noting that it's got ‘some sexuality, nudity, and language.' A TV spot also confirmed the information. It also marks the longest movie of his career, running just short of 3 hours — a mighty task to produce since Nolan only shoots on film. The IMAX film prints are reportedly 11 miles (about 17.7 km) long and weigh nearly 600 pounds (about 272.1 kg). Oppenheimer is slated to release July 21 in theatres worldwide.

It's unreal that for nearly two decades, Nolan hasn't released an R-Rated project, ultimately resulting in great box office numbers. Over the years, this style of filmmaking has revealed some flaws — specifically with 2017's Dunkirk, a war movie which had a severe lack of blood to keep the PG-13 rating. While there was certainly no shortage of fear in the film, any explosions would simply cause dirt to fly off the ground instead of blowing the characters' limbs off into the air. Such conveniences are fine with comic-based movies such as the The Dark Knight trilogy, but have often been points of critique in recent entries.

For Oppenheimer, Nolan also parted ways with longtime partners Warner Bros., and picked Universal Pictures. The filmmaker was appalled at the idea of WB releasing all major films on their novel streaming platform HBO Max — calling it, “the worst streaming service.”

In an interview with Associated Press, Nolan revealed that in order to have the ‘best possible experience' watching Oppenheimer in theatres, one must view it in IMAX 70mm presentation. “The sharpness and the clarity and the depth of the image is unparalleled,” he said. “The headline, for me, is by shooting on IMAX 70mm film, you're really letting the screen disappear. You're getting a feeling of 3D without the glasses. You've got a huge screen and you're filling the peripheral vision of the audience.” The film has been shot on 65mm film and will be projected on 70mm — a ‘visual enhancement' that used the additional 5mm reserved for the soundtrack back in the day. With the advent of digital sound, that additional space has been rendered useless.

Oppenheimer explores the politics and drama surrounding the creation of the first atomic bomb, through the eyes of the renowned theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Longtime Nolan collaborator Cillian Murphy has been cast in the titular role, as he obsessively navigates the Manhattan Project amidst World War II, all the way up to the Trinity Test, which marked the first-ever nuclear explosion. Nolan, who is heavily reliant on practical effects, recreated the explosion without CGI, amidst extraordinary weather challenges in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The film also stars Emily Blunt as Katherine Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. as Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis Strauss, Matt Damon as the Manhattan Project director Leslie Groves Jr., and Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, who maintained a secret relationship with the renowned physicist.

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer will release July 21, exclusively in theatres worldwide.

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Oppenheimer

Release Date 21 July 2023
Language English
Genre Biography, Drama
Cast
Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Dylan Arnold, Olli Haaskivi, Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz, Michael Angarano, Kenneth Branagh
Director
Christopher Nolan
Producer
Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Charles Roven

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Further reading: oppenheimer, oppenheimer rated r, oppenheimer r rating, christopher nolan, oppenheimer imax, oppenheimer imax film print, oppenheimer cast, cillian murphy, robert downey jr, emily blunt, matt damon, florence pugh, universal pictures, hollywood

Rahul Chettiyar Email Rahul Chettiyar

Rahul Chettiyar is a Sub-Editor at Gadgets 360 and writes about entertainment and video games. In his free time, he enjoys watching movies, Sekiro and Elden Ring speed runs, and David Fincher video essays. Before joining here, he solely handled the gaming section at Indian Express Online. You can write to him at rahulr@ndtv.com or find him on Twitter and Letterboxd @Ch1ckenDumpl1ng More