News Analysis India

Tag: Oppenheimer

  • Developing AI technology more dangerous than nuclear weapons: Christopher Nolan

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Christopher Nolan, much like other big figures in Hollywood such as James Cameron, Simon Pegg, Tom Cruise, has spoken about the increasing use of artificial intelligence in both movies and in real life, and has spoken greatly about its dangers.

    Releasing his massive biopic ‘Oppenheimer’ in theatres which is currently ruling cinema, as the movie deals with the concept of nuclear weapons, Nolan has said that AI is even more dangerous than nukes.

    As reported by Aceshowbiz, while speaking to ‘The Guardian’, the ‘Interstellar’ director said: “To look at the international control of nuclear weapons and feel that the same principles could be applied to something that doesn’t require massive industrial processes – it’s a bit tricky.”

    He added: “International surveillance of nuclear weapons is possible because nuclear weapons are very difficult to build. Oppenheimer spent $2 billion and used thousands of people across America to build those first bombs. It’s reassuringly difficult to make nuclear weapons and so it’s relatively easy to spot when a country is doing that. I don’t believe any of that applies to AI.”

    Nolan went on to say that the increasingly intimate relationship between AI and weaponry exposes the need for corporate accountability and much scrutiny.

    He further went on to say that the very thought of people producing or using such technology without truly understanding its implications is, “absolutely terrifying … because as AI systems go into the defense infrastructure, ultimately they’ll be in charge of nuclear weapons.”

    During the special screening of ‘Oppenheimer’ back on July 20, the director had spoken to a bunch of scientists working in the field of AI, and they too have questioned their work many times.

    Many of these scientists and researchers have called the developments undertaken in their own department as their own personal ‘Oppenheimer’ moment as they ponder over the possible outcomes of such advancements in AI technology.

    ‘The Dark Knight’ director also went on to say that while the need for global accountability in AI control is becoming increasingly more important with advancing weapon technology as well as systems of control such as in surveillance systems, he said that “the United Nations has become a very diminished force” in controlling it.

    The director also went on to say that upon watching ‘Oppenheimer’, he hoped audiences would better understand the prospects of control regarding weapon systems and artificial intelligence.

    LOS ANGELES: Christopher Nolan, much like other big figures in Hollywood such as James Cameron, Simon Pegg, Tom Cruise, has spoken about the increasing use of artificial intelligence in both movies and in real life, and has spoken greatly about its dangers.

    Releasing his massive biopic ‘Oppenheimer’ in theatres which is currently ruling cinema, as the movie deals with the concept of nuclear weapons, Nolan has said that AI is even more dangerous than nukes.

    As reported by Aceshowbiz, while speaking to ‘The Guardian’, the ‘Interstellar’ director said: “To look at the international control of nuclear weapons and feel that the same principles could be applied to something that doesn’t require massive industrial processes – it’s a bit tricky.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    He added: “International surveillance of nuclear weapons is possible because nuclear weapons are very difficult to build. Oppenheimer spent $2 billion and used thousands of people across America to build those first bombs. It’s reassuringly difficult to make nuclear weapons and so it’s relatively easy to spot when a country is doing that. I don’t believe any of that applies to AI.”

    Nolan went on to say that the increasingly intimate relationship between AI and weaponry exposes the need for corporate accountability and much scrutiny.

    He further went on to say that the very thought of people producing or using such technology without truly understanding its implications is, “absolutely terrifying … because as AI systems go into the defense infrastructure, ultimately they’ll be in charge of nuclear weapons.”

    During the special screening of ‘Oppenheimer’ back on July 20, the director had spoken to a bunch of scientists working in the field of AI, and they too have questioned their work many times.

    Many of these scientists and researchers have called the developments undertaken in their own department as their own personal ‘Oppenheimer’ moment as they ponder over the possible outcomes of such advancements in AI technology.

    ‘The Dark Knight’ director also went on to say that while the need for global accountability in AI control is becoming increasingly more important with advancing weapon technology as well as systems of control such as in surveillance systems, he said that “the United Nations has become a very diminished force” in controlling it.

    The director also went on to say that upon watching ‘Oppenheimer’, he hoped audiences would better understand the prospects of control regarding weapon systems and artificial intelligence.

  • Directing James Bond movies will be a privilege but needs right attitude, says Christopher Nolan

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Christopher Nolan is currently basking in the astounding success of his latest film ‘Oppenheimer’ which has received an overwhelmingly positive reception, going housefull almost everywhere. Recently, Nolan while talking of his direction methods and what inspires him, shared that directing a James Bond film would be a “privilege”.

    Speaking at the Happy Sad Podcast with host Josh Horowitz, he said “To make any film, I think you have to have the right attitude. Like it has to be the right moment in your creative life where you can express what you want to express and really burrow into something within the appropriate constraints because you would never want to take on something like that and do it wrong.”

    He continued, “The influence of those movies on my filmography is embarrassingly apparent. And so, there’s no attempt to shy away from that. I love films, and you know, it would be an amazing privilege to do one.”

    Taking on the iconic womanizing charming English assassin and spy would be indeed a tough task, and more so for Nolan whose own filming style is radically different from how the James Bond movies have been made. This is due to the director’s own focus on realism, and the Bond films that have come closest to being real are the Timothy Dalton movies ‘Living Daylights’ and ‘License to Kill’ in the ‘80s, which were not that popular at the time due to their own gritty realism, dark brooding nature and violence, though these days they are considered some of the finest Bond movies ever made.

    “You wouldn’t want to take on a film not fully committed to what you bring to the table creatively. So as a writer, casting, everything, it’s a full package. You’d have to be really needed, you’d have to be really wanted in terms of bringing the totality of what you bring to a character. Otherwise, I’m very happy to be first in line to see whatever they do”, he added.

    Nonetheless, Nolan has expressed his interest in directing a Bond film long back, as he had said that he deeply loves the character, and he would like it to have his own take on it. Just like it is with each and every character, Bond too would need reinvention as different directors have different approaches.

    LOS ANGELES: Christopher Nolan is currently basking in the astounding success of his latest film ‘Oppenheimer’ which has received an overwhelmingly positive reception, going housefull almost everywhere. Recently, Nolan while talking of his direction methods and what inspires him, shared that directing a James Bond film would be a “privilege”.

    Speaking at the Happy Sad Podcast with host Josh Horowitz, he said “To make any film, I think you have to have the right attitude. Like it has to be the right moment in your creative life where you can express what you want to express and really burrow into something within the appropriate constraints because you would never want to take on something like that and do it wrong.”

    He continued, “The influence of those movies on my filmography is embarrassingly apparent. And so, there’s no attempt to shy away from that. I love films, and you know, it would be an amazing privilege to do one.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Taking on the iconic womanizing charming English assassin and spy would be indeed a tough task, and more so for Nolan whose own filming style is radically different from how the James Bond movies have been made. This is due to the director’s own focus on realism, and the Bond films that have come closest to being real are the Timothy Dalton movies ‘Living Daylights’ and ‘License to Kill’ in the ‘80s, which were not that popular at the time due to their own gritty realism, dark brooding nature and violence, though these days they are considered some of the finest Bond movies ever made.

    “You wouldn’t want to take on a film not fully committed to what you bring to the table creatively. So as a writer, casting, everything, it’s a full package. You’d have to be really needed, you’d have to be really wanted in terms of bringing the totality of what you bring to a character. Otherwise, I’m very happy to be first in line to see whatever they do”, he added.

    Nonetheless, Nolan has expressed his interest in directing a Bond film long back, as he had said that he deeply loves the character, and he would like it to have his own take on it. Just like it is with each and every character, Bond too would need reinvention as different directors have different approaches.

  • What makes a biopic good (or great)?

    Express News Service

    So… Oppenheimer finally hits screens tomorrow! The long-standing desire to see Christopher Nolan go back to personal, intimate character-centric storytelling as opposed to the heavier cerebral kind that marked his recent work, with mixed results, will hopefully get answered with the Cillian Murphy-led vehicle, a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the legendary theoretical physicist and “father of the atomic bomb”. 

    Nolan would’ve done another biopic sooner had Martin Scorsese not beaten him to it with The Aviator, the subject of which was on the former’s mind for the longest time.

    Howard Hughes, Oppenheimer…It’s easy to see why Nolan would get so drawn to the lives of these men. What do they have in common? Obsession—a pet theme common to all Nolan films, beginning with his 70-min debut feature, Following—and its repercussions, more than anything else.

    Obsession was the predominant theme in many acclaimed biopics too. It has excellent scope for drama—the most essential component of any movie. This obsession may take many forms. The obsession with victory. The obsession with creation. The obsession with proving something. The obsession with vengeance. The obsession with a person (or oneself). The obsession with an ideology. The obsession with technology. The obsession with money. The obsession with power. The obsession with survival.Some resulted in healthy outcomes, while others led to the individual’s downfall. 

    There is a long list, and filmmakers employed various tools and storytelling devices, hoping for an account of their subject’s life in the most gripping way possible. Not all of them succeeded.

    This piece aims to explore some exceptional examples of the biopic that not only serve as testaments to the remarkable filmmaking capabilities of their makers and mind-expanding imaginary possibilities but, above all, help us get a sense of its central character’s mindscape.

    So what makes a good (or great) biopic?Does having a solid central performance alone suffice? What about novel storytelling approaches? Or a combination of both? The opinions may vary. I gravitate more towards the ones that find a healthy balance between both. 

    In some instances, paying as much heed to the spectacle and scale as the main subject is essential to do justice to the life they lived. In others, a documentary-like approach would be more apt. It all depends on the events depicted and the eras they occurred in.

    I also think the experience gets further enhanced when overcoming internal demons is as much a challenge to the protagonist as career-related trials and tribulations. In my book, the best example of a biopic that achieved a perfect balance of everything is undoubtedly The Aviator. I don’t think any other filmmaker, including Nolan, could’ve done it better. (But, at the same time, I wonder how Nolan would’ve approached the material. Did he forego the idea because he thought it would be impossible to top Scorsese’s version?)

    Anyway, the DiCaprio vehicle benefitted from not just the stunning scale that involved seamless CGI and visual effects but stupendous performances from every actor in it, including the leading man who, with his arresting turn, perfectly relayed the life beset by torments, both psychological and professional. As a man who suffered from severe OCD, Hughes’ life was apt for a movie that explored the nature of obsession. (It makes me curious about Nolan’s approach to tackling Oppenheimer’s bouts with depression at certain stages in his life.)

    Interestingly, one film that served as a key influence on some of these examples is a fictitious one — Citizen Kane, which told its story as though its main subject was a real character. With pseudo newsreel footage and documentary, it presented its main character as an amalgamation of two real-life examples. The unique — at the time —narrative structure, which begins with the protagonist’s demise and then goes back to examine his life through testimonials of his friends and acquaintances, may have directly inspired David Lean when it came to Lawrence of Arabia — arguably the greatest biopic of all time. Again, a classic example of a biopic that balanced spectacle and character development with equal aplomb. It helps that the protagonist, T.E. Lawrence, remains an enigma, even to this day, no matter how exuberant the character may have appeared to those around him.

    I guess ambiguity is another quality that sets apart some of these biopics; the most effective ones are the ones that retain at least some sense of mystery about their subject even after the end credits roll—Lawrence of Arabia, The Aviator, and Patton (scripted by Francis Coppola) are a few prime examples that come to mind.

    And one expects to find such a quality in Oppenheimer when keeping in mind the words of Cillian Murphy in his latest interview for Vulture, where he said Oppenheimer has “got such an enigmatic quality to what he does.”

    Other great biopics like Raging Bull and Steve Jobs stood out with their distinct storytelling flourishes, aside from a crucial central performance. While the former employed black-and-white to ‘soften’ the bloody aftermath of the blows in the boxing ring, the latter opted to chronicle Jobs’ life through three crucial events—three press conferences and accompanying backroom drama—in his life.

    While on narrative experiments, Nolan has talked about using colour and black-and-white to create a unique ‘subjective’ experience in Oppenheimer. That should be interesting.

    But more than the above titles, Oppenheimer got me thinking of Damien Chazelle’s First Man, which, for some odd reason, isn’t mentioned in biopic-centric discussions as often as one would like. 

    How did an ordinary (?) man (Ryan Gosling) who experienced multiple personal tragedies eventually become the first man to land on the moon? Another watershed moment in history. 

    And if we look at First Man from a filmmaking standpoint, we’ll find a few similarities in style between Chazelle and Nolan’s work, especially the preference for practical effects.

    So what kind of biopic Oppenheimer is going to be? I can’t wait to find out. Here’s hoping it turns out to be a milestone in Nolan’s career.

    So… Oppenheimer finally hits screens tomorrow! The long-standing desire to see Christopher Nolan go back to personal, intimate character-centric storytelling as opposed to the heavier cerebral kind that marked his recent work, with mixed results, will hopefully get answered with the Cillian Murphy-led vehicle, a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the legendary theoretical physicist and “father of the atomic bomb”. 

    Nolan would’ve done another biopic sooner had Martin Scorsese not beaten him to it with The Aviator, the subject of which was on the former’s mind for the longest time.

    Howard Hughes, Oppenheimer…
    It’s easy to see why Nolan would get so drawn to the lives of these men. 
    What do they have in common? Obsession—a pet theme common to all Nolan films, beginning with his 70-min debut feature, Following—and its repercussions, more than anything else.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Obsession was the predominant theme in many acclaimed biopics too. It has excellent scope for drama—the most essential component of any movie. This obsession may take many forms. The obsession with victory. The obsession with creation. The obsession with proving something. The obsession with vengeance. The obsession with a person (or oneself). The obsession with an ideology. The obsession with technology. The obsession with money. The obsession with power. The obsession with survival.
    Some resulted in healthy outcomes, while others led to the individual’s downfall. 

    There is a long list, and filmmakers employed various tools and storytelling devices, hoping for an account of their subject’s life in the most gripping way possible. Not all of them succeeded.

    This piece aims to explore some exceptional examples of the biopic that not only serve as testaments to the remarkable filmmaking capabilities of their makers and mind-expanding imaginary possibilities but, above all, help us get a sense of its central character’s mindscape.

    So what makes a good (or great) biopic?
    Does having a solid central performance alone suffice? What about novel storytelling approaches? Or a combination of both? The opinions may vary. I gravitate more towards the ones that find a healthy balance between both. 

    In some instances, paying as much heed to the spectacle and scale as the main subject is essential to do justice to the life they lived. In others, a documentary-like approach would be more apt. It all depends on the events depicted and the eras they occurred in.

    I also think the experience gets further enhanced when overcoming internal demons is as much a challenge to the protagonist as career-related trials and tribulations. In my book, the best example of a biopic that achieved a perfect balance of everything is undoubtedly The Aviator. I don’t think any other filmmaker, including Nolan, could’ve done it better. (But, at the same time, I wonder how Nolan would’ve approached the material. Did he forego the idea because he thought it would be impossible to top Scorsese’s version?)

    Anyway, the DiCaprio vehicle benefitted from not just the stunning scale that involved seamless CGI and visual effects but stupendous performances from every actor in it, including the leading man who, with his arresting turn, perfectly relayed the life beset by torments, both psychological and professional. As a man who suffered from severe OCD, Hughes’ life was apt for a movie that explored the nature of obsession. (It makes me curious about Nolan’s approach to tackling Oppenheimer’s bouts with depression at certain stages in his life.)

    Interestingly, one film that served as a key influence on some of these examples is a fictitious one — Citizen Kane, which told its story as though its main subject was a real character. With pseudo newsreel footage and documentary, it presented its main character as an amalgamation of two real-life examples. 
    The unique — at the time —narrative structure, which begins with the protagonist’s demise and then goes back to examine his life through testimonials of his friends and acquaintances, may have directly inspired David Lean when it came to Lawrence of Arabia — arguably the greatest biopic of all time. 
    Again, a classic example of a biopic that balanced spectacle and character development with equal aplomb. It helps that the protagonist, T.E. Lawrence, remains an enigma, even to this day, no matter how exuberant the character may have appeared to those around him.

    I guess ambiguity is another quality that sets apart some of these biopics; the most effective ones are the ones that retain at least some sense of mystery about their subject even after the end credits roll—Lawrence of Arabia, The Aviator, and Patton (scripted by Francis Coppola) are a few prime examples that come to mind.

    And one expects to find such a quality in Oppenheimer when keeping in mind the words of Cillian Murphy in his latest interview for Vulture, where he said Oppenheimer has “got such an enigmatic quality to what he does.”

    Other great biopics like Raging Bull and Steve Jobs stood out with their distinct storytelling flourishes, aside from a crucial central performance. While the former employed black-and-white to ‘soften’ the bloody aftermath of the blows in the boxing ring, the latter opted to chronicle Jobs’ life through three crucial events—three press conferences and accompanying backroom drama—in his life.

    While on narrative experiments, Nolan has talked about using colour and black-and-white to create a unique ‘subjective’ experience in Oppenheimer. That should be interesting.

    But more than the above titles, Oppenheimer got me thinking of Damien Chazelle’s First Man, which, for some odd reason, isn’t mentioned in biopic-centric discussions as often as one would like. 

    How did an ordinary (?) man (Ryan Gosling) who experienced multiple personal tragedies eventually become the first man to land on the moon? Another watershed moment in history. 

    And if we look at First Man from a filmmaking standpoint, we’ll find a few similarities in style between Chazelle and Nolan’s work, especially the preference for practical effects.

    So what kind of biopic Oppenheimer is going to be? I can’t wait to find out. Here’s hoping it turns out to be a milestone in Nolan’s career.

  • The story behind Barbenheimer, the summer’s most online movie showdown

    By Associated Press

    UNITED STATES: The very online showdown between Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” all started with a date: July 21.

    It’s not uncommon for studios to counterprogram films in different genres on a big weekend, but the stark differences between an intense, serious-minded picture about the man who oversaw the development of the atomic bomb and a lighthearted, candy-colored anthropomorphizing of a childhood doll quickly became the stuff of viral fodder.

    There’s even some disagreement over whether it’s “Barbieheimer” or “Barbenheimer” or “Boppenheimer” or yet another tortured portmanteau — a phenomenon on which the AP Stylebook has yet to offer guidance, but for the purposes of this article will be “Barbenheimer.”

    It didn’t hurt that both Nolan and Gerwig have very passionate and very online fandoms eager to join in. Never mind that many of those fans overlap — the memes, allegiances, and T-shirts were just too fun.

    Both movies often trend on social media when the other releases a new asset — a trailer, a picture, an interview. On one level, it’s a marketing department’s dream. Awareness could not be higher, the conversation couldn’t be louder, and neither film even has official reviews out yet.

    “’Barbenheimer’ is a marketing gift borne out of social media and I think it’s benefiting both films,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for analytics firm Comscore. “You’re certainly aware of both movies in a more profound and compelling way than I think might have otherwise happened had they been released on different weekends.”

    AMC Theaters reported that 20,000 of its AMC Stubs members had purchased tickets for a double feature. If you’re counting, that’s 294 minutes of movie-watching. Even Margot Robbie — Barbie herself — and Tom Cruise, the star of another summer blockbuster, have started plotting the ideal “Barbenheimer” day.

    “It’s a perfect double bill,” said Robbie at her movie’s London premiere Wednesday. “I think actually start your day with ‘Barbie,’ then go straight into ‘Oppenheimer’ and then a ‘Barbie’ chaser.”

    Cruise — whose “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” opened a little over a week before the “Barbenheimer” showdown — said at his premiere he’d plan to see both on their opening day, likely starting with “Oppenheimer,” which seems to be the internet’s preferred viewing order as well.

    “Barbie” actor Issa Rae thinks there’s a reason for that.

    “I think that there’s a very specific order that if you see them in. If you see ‘Oppenheimer’ last then you might be a bit of a psychopath,” she diagnosed at the London premiere.

    The showdown has made armchair marketing experts out of everyone, quick to scrutinize every move by Warner Bros. and Universal — as though it’s possible to compare two extraordinarily different campaigns.

    One has infinite opportunities for very pink, sparkly photo opportunities, whimsical brand partnerships for seemingly everything from underwear to pool floats, large-scale fan events with autograph signings and pop stars like Billie Eilish posting about the soundtrack. In other words, the “Barbie” campaign can go nuclear.

    “Oppenheimer” has the bomb, the alluring mystery and the big screen hook, but it’s not the kind of movie that lends itself to, say, a frozen yogurt collaboration.

    Is the competition real, though, or just a meme? Some in Hollywood wondered if Warner Bros. plopped “Barbie” on the weekend as a slight to Nolan, who had opened many films for the studio in that corridor including “Inception” and “Dunkirk.” He left Warner Bros. amid its controversial decision to send a year’s worth of movies to streaming and made “Oppenheimer” with Universal instead. But a pointed box office war doesn’t exactly make sense for a studio that has talked recently about wanting to lure Nolan back.

    There is an unspoken code of conduct: Never badmouth another studio’s film, publicly at least. This is partly decorum, especially when it comes to “box office showdowns” which all will say are a creation of the press and sideline spectators. But it’s also rooted in some truth: The conventional thinking is that having eyes on one movie is good for other movies — you see their posters and trailers and on some level everyone benefits.

    And social media has allowed movie stars to get in on the game, too. Following reports that Cruise was irked the latest “Mission: Impossible” was going to lose its IMAX screens to “Oppenheimer” after only a week, Cruise posted photos of himself and director Christopher McQuarrie standing in front of posters for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” holding tickets for each.

    “This summer is full of amazing movies to see in theaters. These are just a few that we can’t wait to see on the big screen,” Cruise’s Instagram caption read.

    The official accounts for “Indiana Jones,” “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” responded with supportive notes. Gerwig and Robbie even followed with a similar photo series a few days later, which the official “Oppenheimer” Instagram account reposted in its stories. Charged with playing Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy told the AP at his movie’s London premiere that “of course” he’d be seeing “Barbie.” The sporting cross-promotion between four studios — Universal, Warner Bros., Disney and Paramount — is something the film business has not quite seen before.

    “Not only is Tom Cruise the biggest box office star in the world, but he’s also an incredible ambassador for the movie theater, for the movie theater experience and boosting other movies,” Dergarabedian said. “And that collegial atmosphere within the framework of what is seen as the very competitive box office derby is kind of a nice thing.”

    Still, everyone likes a No. 1 debut, and both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” reportedly carry $100 million production price tags (not including the millions spent on marketing). As far as box office tracking goes, “Barbie” has it in the bag with forecasts showing that it could open above $90 million in North America. “Oppenheimer” meanwhile is tracking in the $40 million range. Then there’s the wild card of “Mission: Impossible 7’s” second weekend, which could snag second place.

    Still even with a second- or third-place start, “Oppenheimer” could be destined for a long, steady, profitable run into awards season. Adult audiences for R-rated movies are not often the ones who pack theaters the first weekend.

    Back in 2008, in the midst of the recession, Warner Bros. and Universal faced off on the same July weekend with another Nolan film that went up against a lighthearted confection: “The Dark Knight” and “Mamma Mia!” — both of which went on to be enormously profitable (though Nolan did win the first weekend).

    The bigger worry is that what’s been heralded as Hollywood’s post-pandemic comeback summer has had more ups and downs than anyone might have hoped. That’s putting quite a bit of pressure on “Barbenheimer” to overperform and boost the lagging summer box office, which pales in comparison to the bigger issues facing the industry as actors join the writers on strike.

    But with just over a week to go, it’s still a source of amusement. Even “Barbie” co-star Will Ferrell threw the gauntlet in his winking way at the London premiere.

    “I think the world maybe wants to see ‘Barbie’ a little bit more right now,” Ferrell said. “Just saying!”

    UNITED STATES: The very online showdown between Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” all started with a date: July 21.

    It’s not uncommon for studios to counterprogram films in different genres on a big weekend, but the stark differences between an intense, serious-minded picture about the man who oversaw the development of the atomic bomb and a lighthearted, candy-colored anthropomorphizing of a childhood doll quickly became the stuff of viral fodder.

    There’s even some disagreement over whether it’s “Barbieheimer” or “Barbenheimer” or “Boppenheimer” or yet another tortured portmanteau — a phenomenon on which the AP Stylebook has yet to offer guidance, but for the purposes of this article will be “Barbenheimer.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    It didn’t hurt that both Nolan and Gerwig have very passionate and very online fandoms eager to join in. Never mind that many of those fans overlap — the memes, allegiances, and T-shirts were just too fun.

    Both movies often trend on social media when the other releases a new asset — a trailer, a picture, an interview. On one level, it’s a marketing department’s dream. Awareness could not be higher, the conversation couldn’t be louder, and neither film even has official reviews out yet.

    “’Barbenheimer’ is a marketing gift borne out of social media and I think it’s benefiting both films,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for analytics firm Comscore. “You’re certainly aware of both movies in a more profound and compelling way than I think might have otherwise happened had they been released on different weekends.”

    AMC Theaters reported that 20,000 of its AMC Stubs members had purchased tickets for a double feature. If you’re counting, that’s 294 minutes of movie-watching. Even Margot Robbie — Barbie herself — and Tom Cruise, the star of another summer blockbuster, have started plotting the ideal “Barbenheimer” day.

    “It’s a perfect double bill,” said Robbie at her movie’s London premiere Wednesday. “I think actually start your day with ‘Barbie,’ then go straight into ‘Oppenheimer’ and then a ‘Barbie’ chaser.”

    Cruise — whose “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” opened a little over a week before the “Barbenheimer” showdown — said at his premiere he’d plan to see both on their opening day, likely starting with “Oppenheimer,” which seems to be the internet’s preferred viewing order as well.

    “Barbie” actor Issa Rae thinks there’s a reason for that.

    “I think that there’s a very specific order that if you see them in. If you see ‘Oppenheimer’ last then you might be a bit of a psychopath,” she diagnosed at the London premiere.

    The showdown has made armchair marketing experts out of everyone, quick to scrutinize every move by Warner Bros. and Universal — as though it’s possible to compare two extraordinarily different campaigns.

    One has infinite opportunities for very pink, sparkly photo opportunities, whimsical brand partnerships for seemingly everything from underwear to pool floats, large-scale fan events with autograph signings and pop stars like Billie Eilish posting about the soundtrack. In other words, the “Barbie” campaign can go nuclear.

    “Oppenheimer” has the bomb, the alluring mystery and the big screen hook, but it’s not the kind of movie that lends itself to, say, a frozen yogurt collaboration.

    Is the competition real, though, or just a meme? Some in Hollywood wondered if Warner Bros. plopped “Barbie” on the weekend as a slight to Nolan, who had opened many films for the studio in that corridor including “Inception” and “Dunkirk.” He left Warner Bros. amid its controversial decision to send a year’s worth of movies to streaming and made “Oppenheimer” with Universal instead. But a pointed box office war doesn’t exactly make sense for a studio that has talked recently about wanting to lure Nolan back.

    There is an unspoken code of conduct: Never badmouth another studio’s film, publicly at least. This is partly decorum, especially when it comes to “box office showdowns” which all will say are a creation of the press and sideline spectators. But it’s also rooted in some truth: The conventional thinking is that having eyes on one movie is good for other movies — you see their posters and trailers and on some level everyone benefits.

    And social media has allowed movie stars to get in on the game, too. Following reports that Cruise was irked the latest “Mission: Impossible” was going to lose its IMAX screens to “Oppenheimer” after only a week, Cruise posted photos of himself and director Christopher McQuarrie standing in front of posters for “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” holding tickets for each.

    “This summer is full of amazing movies to see in theaters. These are just a few that we can’t wait to see on the big screen,” Cruise’s Instagram caption read.

    The official accounts for “Indiana Jones,” “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” responded with supportive notes. Gerwig and Robbie even followed with a similar photo series a few days later, which the official “Oppenheimer” Instagram account reposted in its stories. Charged with playing Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy told the AP at his movie’s London premiere that “of course” he’d be seeing “Barbie.” The sporting cross-promotion between four studios — Universal, Warner Bros., Disney and Paramount — is something the film business has not quite seen before.

    “Not only is Tom Cruise the biggest box office star in the world, but he’s also an incredible ambassador for the movie theater, for the movie theater experience and boosting other movies,” Dergarabedian said. “And that collegial atmosphere within the framework of what is seen as the very competitive box office derby is kind of a nice thing.”

    Still, everyone likes a No. 1 debut, and both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” reportedly carry $100 million production price tags (not including the millions spent on marketing). As far as box office tracking goes, “Barbie” has it in the bag with forecasts showing that it could open above $90 million in North America. “Oppenheimer” meanwhile is tracking in the $40 million range. Then there’s the wild card of “Mission: Impossible 7’s” second weekend, which could snag second place.

    Still even with a second- or third-place start, “Oppenheimer” could be destined for a long, steady, profitable run into awards season. Adult audiences for R-rated movies are not often the ones who pack theaters the first weekend.

    Back in 2008, in the midst of the recession, Warner Bros. and Universal faced off on the same July weekend with another Nolan film that went up against a lighthearted confection: “The Dark Knight” and “Mamma Mia!” — both of which went on to be enormously profitable (though Nolan did win the first weekend).

    The bigger worry is that what’s been heralded as Hollywood’s post-pandemic comeback summer has had more ups and downs than anyone might have hoped. That’s putting quite a bit of pressure on “Barbenheimer” to overperform and boost the lagging summer box office, which pales in comparison to the bigger issues facing the industry as actors join the writers on strike.

    But with just over a week to go, it’s still a source of amusement. Even “Barbie” co-star Will Ferrell threw the gauntlet in his winking way at the London premiere.

    “I think the world maybe wants to see ‘Barbie’ a little bit more right now,” Ferrell said. “Just saying!”

  • Cillian Murphy reveals he read Bhagavad Gita to prepare for his role in ‘Oppenheimer’

    By Express News Service

    Actor Cillian Murphy, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming biopic, Oppenheimer has shared that in order to prepare for the titular character and to get into its mind space, he read Bhagavad Gita, the foundational text of Hinduism.

    American nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War 2, and is often credited as the “father of the atomic bomb” for his role in the Manhattan Project, learned Sanskrit at Berkley.

    “I have become death, the destroyer of worlds” is the most repeated quote of Oppenheimer. He borrowed it from Gita.

    Talking about the same, Cillian Murphy said, “I did read the Bhagavad Gita in preparation for the film. I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text. Very inspiring. It was a consolation to him. He kind of needed it. It provided a lot of consolation to him all his life.”

    ALSO READ | Oppenheimer: The man who lit the neverending fuse  

    For the unversed, Oppenheimer is directed by legendary filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who is known for films like Memento, Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Tenet and Dunkirk. The film also stars Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett and Kenneth Branagh as the supporting cast.

    It is set to release in India by PVR INOX on July 21, 2023. It is clashing with Barbie, a much-awaited directorial by Greta Gerwig Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. 

    (The article appeared on Indulge Express)

    Actor Cillian Murphy, who is gearing up for the release of his upcoming biopic, Oppenheimer has shared that in order to prepare for the titular character and to get into its mind space, he read Bhagavad Gita, the foundational text of Hinduism.

    American nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War 2, and is often credited as the “father of the atomic bomb” for his role in the Manhattan Project, learned Sanskrit at Berkley.

    “I have become death, the destroyer of worlds” is the most repeated quote of Oppenheimer. He borrowed it from Gita.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Talking about the same, Cillian Murphy said, “I did read the Bhagavad Gita in preparation for the film. I thought it was an absolutely beautiful text. Very inspiring. It was a consolation to him. He kind of needed it. It provided a lot of consolation to him all his life.”

    ALSO READ | Oppenheimer: The man who lit the neverending fuse  

    For the unversed, Oppenheimer is directed by legendary filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who is known for films like Memento, Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Tenet and Dunkirk. The film also stars Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett and Kenneth Branagh as the supporting cast.

    It is set to release in India by PVR INOX on July 21, 2023. It is clashing with Barbie, a much-awaited directorial by Greta Gerwig Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. 

    (The article appeared on Indulge Express)

  • Oppenheimer: The man who lit the neverending fuse  

    Express News Service

    Legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock seemingly once said, “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.” When the first nuclear bomb was detonated, the world stood aghast at the sheer power that was unleashed. However, like the aforementioned quote, there is true terror in the moments leading up to the bang. Decades of scientific progress that culminated into one detonation, the implication of its success, the questions it raises, and the power it represents, is perhaps why director Christopher Nolan calls J Robert Oppenheimer…

    The most important person who ever lived

    Right before the start of World War II, in the December of 1938, two German scientists by the name of Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann figured out a way to split an atom (Uranium) into more particles, thereby discovering nuclear fission. After the initial wave of disbelief and exhilaration travelled across the scientific community and eventually subsided, a few of the brightest minds figured out that this discovery could be harnessed to create a terrifying bomb. Physicist J Robert Oppenheimer was one among them. And the US government, which had its watchful eyes on the rise of the Nazis, was also interested in this bomb.

    Mentored by JJ Thomson, who discovered the electrons, Oppenheimer was hailed as one of the greatest scientific minds by his contemporaries. Coupled with the fact that advancements in nuclear fission began coming from German scientists, the anxiety to outrun the Nazi forces to the atomic bomb was reaching a fever pitch in the US. With all hands pointing to Oppenheimer as being the most competent man for the job, the humongous task of bringing A-list scientists together to build an atomic bomb fell into the hands of one man.

    The world ending push of a button

    While the scientists gathered to imagine how the bomb could be designed, they had to face an inadvertent possibility that nuclear fission could trigger an uncontrollable chain reaction that could go on to ignite the atmosphere and end all life on Earth. Faced with that terrifying possibility, and in a desperate attempt to win the race against the Nazis, the scientists at the Los Alamos Laboratory still go ahead to push the button.

    Nolan’s upcoming film promises to give us a peering look into how the events of the war pushed the scientists into a corner that made them believe they had no choice but to take that gamble. The sense of foreboding threat that pervades this story is perhaps why the early reactions are talking about how the film feels more like a horror.

    The blinding light of a billion stars

    One of the primary jobs of Oppenheimer, as the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, is to assemble some of the brightest minds in the scientific community for the project. Ever since the star-studded cast list for the film has been announced, it is hard not to wonder if Christopher Nolan has been tacitly emulating Oppenheimer, by rallying together some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. With Nolan’s long-time collaborator Cillian Murphy stepping up to lead the film in the titular role, Matt Damon plays army general Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project. Robert Downey Jr plays Lewis Strauss, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, a man with a strong ideological conviction who sees Oppenheimer’s post-bomb-creation guilt as a sign of weakness and a national security threat. The film also brings to life a number of rockstar scientists who travelled along with the story including Albert Einstein— who warned the US government about the calamity that the Nazis could unleash if they built the bomb first, Niels Bohr—who had the wisdom and knowledge to predict a post-war nuclear arms race between the US and the Soviet Union, celebrity scientist Richard Feynman and the ‘architect of the nuclear age’ Enrico Fermi.

    And the bomb goes off…

    According to the filmmaker, he had apparently abstained from using CGI and had recreated the atomic explosion practically. While large-scale explosions have been known to be captured on film using pyro-technique wizardry, lensing techniques, and sophisticated miniatures, an average audience still cannot fathom the level of artistry that must have gone to craft the nuclear fission and atomic explosion practically. The director even went ahead with the unenviable task (according to industry technicians) of shooting the entire breadth of the film with a huge IMAX camera. Why go through such a cumbersome task? Is it just to dazzle us with spectacle? Is it truly the most important chapter in human history that demands such devoted filmmaking? With around 12,500 nuclear warheads currently spread across the world, with our increasing dependence on nuclear energy, maybe that moment when humanity learned to wield the power of the gods does need a closer look. 

    Legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock seemingly once said, “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.” When the first nuclear bomb was detonated, the world stood aghast at the sheer power that was unleashed. However, like the aforementioned quote, there is true terror in the moments leading up to the bang. Decades of scientific progress that culminated into one detonation, the implication of its success, the questions it raises, and the power it represents, is perhaps why director Christopher Nolan calls J Robert Oppenheimer…

    The most important person who ever lived

    Right before the start of World War II, in the December of 1938, two German scientists by the name of Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann figured out a way to split an atom (Uranium) into more particles, thereby discovering nuclear fission. After the initial wave of disbelief and exhilaration travelled across the scientific community and eventually subsided, a few of the brightest minds figured out that this discovery could be harnessed to create a terrifying bomb. Physicist J Robert Oppenheimer was one among them. And the US government, which had its watchful eyes on the rise of the Nazis, was also interested in this bomb.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Mentored by JJ Thomson, who discovered the electrons, Oppenheimer was hailed as one of the greatest scientific minds by his contemporaries. Coupled with the fact that advancements in nuclear fission began coming from German scientists, the anxiety to outrun the Nazi forces to the atomic bomb was reaching a fever pitch in the US. With all hands pointing to Oppenheimer as being the most competent man for the job, the humongous task of bringing A-list scientists together to build an atomic bomb fell into the hands of one man.

    The world ending push of a button

    While the scientists gathered to imagine how the bomb could be designed, they had to face an inadvertent possibility that nuclear fission could trigger an uncontrollable chain reaction that could go on to ignite the atmosphere and end all life on Earth. Faced with that terrifying possibility, and in a desperate attempt to win the race against the Nazis, the scientists at the Los Alamos Laboratory still go ahead to push the button.

    Nolan’s upcoming film promises to give us a peering look into how the events of the war pushed the scientists into a corner that made them believe they had no choice but to take that gamble. The sense of foreboding threat that pervades this story is perhaps why the early reactions are talking about how the film feels more like a horror.

    The blinding light of a billion stars

    One of the primary jobs of Oppenheimer, as the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, is to assemble some of the brightest minds in the scientific community for the project. Ever since the star-studded cast list for the film has been announced, it is hard not to wonder if Christopher Nolan has been tacitly emulating Oppenheimer, by rallying together some of the biggest stars in Hollywood. With Nolan’s long-time collaborator Cillian Murphy stepping up to lead the film in the titular role, Matt Damon plays army general Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project. Robert Downey Jr plays Lewis Strauss, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, a man with a strong ideological conviction who sees Oppenheimer’s post-bomb-creation guilt as a sign of weakness and a national security threat. The film also brings to life a number of rockstar scientists who travelled along with the story including Albert Einstein— who warned the US government about the calamity that the Nazis could unleash if they built the bomb first, Niels Bohr—who had the wisdom and knowledge to predict a post-war nuclear arms race between the US and the Soviet Union, celebrity scientist Richard Feynman and the ‘architect of the nuclear age’ Enrico Fermi.

    And the bomb goes off…

    According to the filmmaker, he had apparently abstained from using CGI and had recreated the atomic explosion practically. While large-scale explosions have been known to be captured on film using pyro-technique wizardry, lensing techniques, and sophisticated miniatures, an average audience still cannot fathom the level of artistry that must have gone to craft the nuclear fission and atomic explosion practically. The director even went ahead with the unenviable task (according to industry technicians) of shooting the entire breadth of the film with a huge IMAX camera. Why go through such a cumbersome task? Is it just to dazzle us with spectacle? Is it truly the most important chapter in human history that demands such devoted filmmaking? With around 12,500 nuclear warheads currently spread across the world, with our increasing dependence on nuclear energy, maybe that moment when humanity learned to wield the power of the gods does need a closer look. 

  • In ‘Oppenheimer,’ Christopher Nolan builds a thrilling, serious blockbuster for adults

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: Christopher Nolan has never been one to take the easy or straightforward route while making a movie.

    He shoots on large-format film with large, cumbersome cameras to get the best possible cinematic image. He prefers practical effects over computer-generated ones and real locations over soundstages — even when that means recreating an atomic explosion in the harsh winds of the New Mexico desert in the middle of the night for “Oppenheimer,” out July 21.

    Though, despite internet rumors, they did not detonate an actual nuclear weapon.

    And as for the biography that inspired his newest film, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s riveting, linear narrative “American Prometheus” was simply the starting point from which Nolan crafted a beguiling labyrinth of suspense and drama.

    It’s why, in his two decades working in Hollywood, Nolan has become a franchise unto himself — the rare auteur writer-director who makes films that are both intellectually stimulating and commercial, accounting for more than $5 billion in box office receipts. That combination is part of the reason why he’s able to attract Oscar winners and movie stars not just to headline his films, but also to turn out for just a scene or two.

    “We’ve all been so intoxicated by his films,” said Emily Blunt, who plays J. Robert Oppenheimer’s wife, Kitty. “That exploration of huge themes in an entertaining way doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t happen. That depth, the depth of the material, and yet on this massive epic scale.”

    ALSO READ | ‘Oppenheimer’ cast leaves London premiere midway as Hollywood stars join writer strike

    Official: Christopher Nolan just confirmed the cast of #Oppenheimer have LEFT the U.K. premiere due to the #SAGAFTRA strikeThe first time in 60 years that writers and actors are striking together. #SAGStrike pic.twitter.com/BQBo2jRfCd
    — The Weekly Cut (@weeklycut) July 13, 2023
    In the vast and complex story of the brilliant theoretical physicist who oversaw the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb during World War II, Nolan saw exciting possibilities to play with genre and form. There was the race to develop it before the Germans did, espionage, romance, domestic turmoil, a courtroom drama, bruised egos, political machinations, communist panic, and the burden of having created something that could destroy the world.

    And then there was the man himself, beloved by most but hated by enough, who, after achieving icon status in American society, saw his reputation and sense of self annihilated by the very institutions that built him.

    “It’s such an ambitious story to tell,” said Matt Damon, who plays Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. “Reading the script, I had the same feeling I had when I read ‘Interstellar,’ which was: ‘This is great. How the hell is he going to do this?’”

    It’s not so disconnected from Nolan’s other films, either. As critic Tom Shone noted in his book about the director, “Looked at one way, Nolan’s films are all allegories of men who first find their salvation in structure only to find themselves betrayed or engulfed by it.”

    Nolan turned to Cillian Murphy to take on the gargantuan task of portraying Oppenheimer. Murphy had already acted in five Nolan films, including the Batman trilogy, “Dunkirk” and “Inception,” but this would be his first time as a lead — something he had secretly pined for.

    “You feel a responsibility, but then a great hunger and excitement to try and do it, to see where you can get,” said Murphy, who prepped extensively for six months before filming, working closely with Nolan throughout. “It was an awful lot of work, but I loved it. There is this kind of frisson, this energy when you’re on a Chris Nolan set about the potential for what you’re going to achieve.”

    It would be an all-consuming role that would require some physical transformation to approximate that famously thin silhouette. A complex, contradictory figure, Oppenheimer emerged from a somewhat awkward youth to become a renaissance man who seemed to carry equal passion for the Bhagavad Gita, Proust, physics, languages, New Mexico, philosophical questions about disarmament and the perfectly mixed martini. But Murphy knew he was in safe hands with Nolan.

    “He’s the most natural director I’ve ever worked with. And the notes that he gives to an actor, are quite remarkable. How he can gently bring you to a different place with your performance is quite stunning in such a subtle, low-key, understated way,” Murphy said. “It can have a profound effect on the way you look at a scene from one take to another take.”

    READ MORE | Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer to be free of CGI shots 

    Nolan wrote the main timeline of the film in the first person, to represent Oppenheimer’s subjective experience.

    “We want to see everything through Oppenheimer’s point of view,” Nolan said. “That’s a huge challenge for an actor to take on because they’re having to worry about the performance, the truth of the performance, but also make sure that that’s always open to the audience.”

    The other timeline, filmed in black and white, is more objective and focused on Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), a founding member of the Atomic Energy Commission and a supporter of the development of the more destructive hydrogen bomb.

    “Oppenheimer” is Nolan’s first R-rated film since 2002’s “Insomnia,” which after years of working exclusively in PG-13, he’s comfortable with. It fits the gravity of the material.

    “We’re dealing with the most serious and adult story you could imagine — very important, dramatic events that changed the world and defined the world we live in today,” Nolan said. “You don’t want to compromise in any way.”

    This image released by Universal Pictures shows Matt Damon as Gen. Leslie Groves, left, and Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in a scene from “Oppenheimer.” (Universal Pictures via AP)

    Much of the filming took place in New Mexico, including at the real Los Alamos laboratory where thousands of scientists, technicians and their families lived and worked for two years in the effort to develop the bomb. Nolan enlisted many of his frequent behind-the-scenes collaborators, including his wife and producer Emma Thomas, cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, composer Ludwig Göransson and special effects supervisors Scott Fisher and Andrew Jackson, as well as some newcomers like production designer Ruth de Jong and costume designer Ellen Mirojnick to help bring this world to life.

    “It was a very focused set — fun set as well, not too serious. But the work was serious, the sweating of the details was serious,” Blunt said. “Everyone needs to kind of match Chris’ excellence, or want to.”

    When it came to recreating the Trinity test, Oppenheimer’s chosen name for the first nuclear detonation, art and life blended in a visceral way.

    “We wanted to put the audience there in that bunker,” Nolan said. “That meant really trying to make these things as beautiful and frightening and awe inspiring as they would have been to the people at the time.”

    Though no real nukes were used, they did stage a lot of real explosions to approximate the blindingly bright atomic fire and mushroom cloud.

    “To do those safely in a real environment out in the nighttime desert, there’s a degree of discipline and focus and adrenaline and just executing that for the film that echoes and mirrors what these guys went through on the grandest scale in a really interesting way,” Nolan said. “I felt everybody had that very, very tight sense of tension and focus around all those shooting nights.”

    The weather also “did what it needed to do, as per history,” Murphy said, as the wind picked up and whipped around the set.

    “I’m rumored to be very lucky with the weather and it’s not the case. It’s just that we decide to shoot whatever the weather,” Nolan said. “In the case of the Trinity test, it was essential, central to the story that this big storm rolls in with tremendous drama. And it did. That really made the sequence come to life.”

    He added: “The extremity of it put me very much in the mindset of what it must have been like for these guys. It really felt like we were out in it.”

    | Behind the scene #Oppenheimer pic.twitter.com/csfNjAfmJ9
    — Christopher Nolan Art & Updates (@NolanAnalyst) July 14, 2023
    Then, of course, there is the experience of watching “Oppenheimer.”

    “When you’re making a movie, I feel like you’re on the inside looking out,” Blunt said. “It’s really overwhelming to see it reflected back at you, especially one of this magnitude. … I just felt like my breastplate was going to shatter, it was so intense.”

    The hope is that when “Oppenheimer” is unleashed on the world, audiences will be as invested and will seek it out on the biggest screen they can find. The film has a run in IMAX theaters around the country, not something often afforded serious-minded, R-rated movies in the middle of the busy summer season. But this is also the essential Nolan impossibility. As more and more auteurs have had to compromise — to either go smaller or team with streamers to get the kind of budget they might once have had at studios, like even Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese have had to do this year — Nolan continues to make his movies on the grandest scale.

    “Each of his films has been revolutionary in their own way,” Murphy said. “It’s an event every time he releases a film, and rightly so.”

    NEW YORK: Christopher Nolan has never been one to take the easy or straightforward route while making a movie.

    He shoots on large-format film with large, cumbersome cameras to get the best possible cinematic image. He prefers practical effects over computer-generated ones and real locations over soundstages — even when that means recreating an atomic explosion in the harsh winds of the New Mexico desert in the middle of the night for “Oppenheimer,” out July 21.

    Though, despite internet rumors, they did not detonate an actual nuclear weapon.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    And as for the biography that inspired his newest film, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s riveting, linear narrative “American Prometheus” was simply the starting point from which Nolan crafted a beguiling labyrinth of suspense and drama.

    It’s why, in his two decades working in Hollywood, Nolan has become a franchise unto himself — the rare auteur writer-director who makes films that are both intellectually stimulating and commercial, accounting for more than $5 billion in box office receipts. That combination is part of the reason why he’s able to attract Oscar winners and movie stars not just to headline his films, but also to turn out for just a scene or two.

    “We’ve all been so intoxicated by his films,” said Emily Blunt, who plays J. Robert Oppenheimer’s wife, Kitty. “That exploration of huge themes in an entertaining way doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t happen. That depth, the depth of the material, and yet on this massive epic scale.”

    ALSO READ | ‘Oppenheimer’ cast leaves London premiere midway as Hollywood stars join writer strike

    Official: Christopher Nolan just confirmed the cast of #Oppenheimer have LEFT the U.K. premiere due to the #SAGAFTRA strike
    The first time in 60 years that writers and actors are striking together. #SAGStrike pic.twitter.com/BQBo2jRfCd
    — The Weekly Cut (@weeklycut) July 13, 2023
    In the vast and complex story of the brilliant theoretical physicist who oversaw the Manhattan Project and the development of the atomic bomb during World War II, Nolan saw exciting possibilities to play with genre and form. There was the race to develop it before the Germans did, espionage, romance, domestic turmoil, a courtroom drama, bruised egos, political machinations, communist panic, and the burden of having created something that could destroy the world.

    And then there was the man himself, beloved by most but hated by enough, who, after achieving icon status in American society, saw his reputation and sense of self annihilated by the very institutions that built him.

    “It’s such an ambitious story to tell,” said Matt Damon, who plays Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. “Reading the script, I had the same feeling I had when I read ‘Interstellar,’ which was: ‘This is great. How the hell is he going to do this?’”

    It’s not so disconnected from Nolan’s other films, either. As critic Tom Shone noted in his book about the director, “Looked at one way, Nolan’s films are all allegories of men who first find their salvation in structure only to find themselves betrayed or engulfed by it.”

    Nolan turned to Cillian Murphy to take on the gargantuan task of portraying Oppenheimer. Murphy had already acted in five Nolan films, including the Batman trilogy, “Dunkirk” and “Inception,” but this would be his first time as a lead — something he had secretly pined for.

    “You feel a responsibility, but then a great hunger and excitement to try and do it, to see where you can get,” said Murphy, who prepped extensively for six months before filming, working closely with Nolan throughout. “It was an awful lot of work, but I loved it. There is this kind of frisson, this energy when you’re on a Chris Nolan set about the potential for what you’re going to achieve.”

    It would be an all-consuming role that would require some physical transformation to approximate that famously thin silhouette. A complex, contradictory figure, Oppenheimer emerged from a somewhat awkward youth to become a renaissance man who seemed to carry equal passion for the Bhagavad Gita, Proust, physics, languages, New Mexico, philosophical questions about disarmament and the perfectly mixed martini. But Murphy knew he was in safe hands with Nolan.

    “He’s the most natural director I’ve ever worked with. And the notes that he gives to an actor, are quite remarkable. How he can gently bring you to a different place with your performance is quite stunning in such a subtle, low-key, understated way,” Murphy said. “It can have a profound effect on the way you look at a scene from one take to another take.”

    READ MORE | Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer to be free of CGI shots 

    Nolan wrote the main timeline of the film in the first person, to represent Oppenheimer’s subjective experience.

    “We want to see everything through Oppenheimer’s point of view,” Nolan said. “That’s a huge challenge for an actor to take on because they’re having to worry about the performance, the truth of the performance, but also make sure that that’s always open to the audience.”

    The other timeline, filmed in black and white, is more objective and focused on Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), a founding member of the Atomic Energy Commission and a supporter of the development of the more destructive hydrogen bomb.

    “Oppenheimer” is Nolan’s first R-rated film since 2002’s “Insomnia,” which after years of working exclusively in PG-13, he’s comfortable with. It fits the gravity of the material.

    “We’re dealing with the most serious and adult story you could imagine — very important, dramatic events that changed the world and defined the world we live in today,” Nolan said. “You don’t want to compromise in any way.”

    This image released by Universal Pictures shows Matt Damon as Gen. Leslie Groves, left, and Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in a scene from “Oppenheimer.” (Universal Pictures via AP)

    Much of the filming took place in New Mexico, including at the real Los Alamos laboratory where thousands of scientists, technicians and their families lived and worked for two years in the effort to develop the bomb. Nolan enlisted many of his frequent behind-the-scenes collaborators, including his wife and producer Emma Thomas, cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, composer Ludwig Göransson and special effects supervisors Scott Fisher and Andrew Jackson, as well as some newcomers like production designer Ruth de Jong and costume designer Ellen Mirojnick to help bring this world to life.

    “It was a very focused set — fun set as well, not too serious. But the work was serious, the sweating of the details was serious,” Blunt said. “Everyone needs to kind of match Chris’ excellence, or want to.”

    When it came to recreating the Trinity test, Oppenheimer’s chosen name for the first nuclear detonation, art and life blended in a visceral way.

    “We wanted to put the audience there in that bunker,” Nolan said. “That meant really trying to make these things as beautiful and frightening and awe inspiring as they would have been to the people at the time.”

    Though no real nukes were used, they did stage a lot of real explosions to approximate the blindingly bright atomic fire and mushroom cloud.

    “To do those safely in a real environment out in the nighttime desert, there’s a degree of discipline and focus and adrenaline and just executing that for the film that echoes and mirrors what these guys went through on the grandest scale in a really interesting way,” Nolan said. “I felt everybody had that very, very tight sense of tension and focus around all those shooting nights.”

    The weather also “did what it needed to do, as per history,” Murphy said, as the wind picked up and whipped around the set.

    “I’m rumored to be very lucky with the weather and it’s not the case. It’s just that we decide to shoot whatever the weather,” Nolan said. “In the case of the Trinity test, it was essential, central to the story that this big storm rolls in with tremendous drama. And it did. That really made the sequence come to life.”

    He added: “The extremity of it put me very much in the mindset of what it must have been like for these guys. It really felt like we were out in it.”

    | Behind the scene #Oppenheimer pic.twitter.com/csfNjAfmJ9
    — Christopher Nolan Art & Updates (@NolanAnalyst) July 14, 2023
    Then, of course, there is the experience of watching “Oppenheimer.”

    “When you’re making a movie, I feel like you’re on the inside looking out,” Blunt said. “It’s really overwhelming to see it reflected back at you, especially one of this magnitude. … I just felt like my breastplate was going to shatter, it was so intense.”

    The hope is that when “Oppenheimer” is unleashed on the world, audiences will be as invested and will seek it out on the biggest screen they can find. The film has a run in IMAX theaters around the country, not something often afforded serious-minded, R-rated movies in the middle of the busy summer season. But this is also the essential Nolan impossibility. As more and more auteurs have had to compromise — to either go smaller or team with streamers to get the kind of budget they might once have had at studios, like even Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese have had to do this year — Nolan continues to make his movies on the grandest scale.

    “Each of his films has been revolutionary in their own way,” Murphy said. “It’s an event every time he releases a film, and rightly so.”

  • ‘Oppenheimer’ cast leaves London premiere midway as Hollywood stars join writer strike

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: The A-list cast of filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s new movie “Oppenheimer” left the film’s London screening midway in solidarity with the strike called by a Hollywood’s actors union.

    On Thursday, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted to join screenwriters in the first joint strike after failing to reach a consensus for a new contract with the studios and streaming services, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

    The London premiere of “Oppenheimer”, Nolan’s sprawling epic about J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist remembered as one of the fathers of the atom bomb, saw lead stars Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Ramy Malek grace the red carpet.

    Rami Malek, from left, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Cillian Murphy, director Christopher Nolan, Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Conti pose at the premiere for ‘Oppenheimer’ on July 13, 2023 in London. (AP)

    But they left before the screening of the movie in preparation for the imminent strike, the filmmaker announced later.

    “You’ve seen them here earlier on the red carpet. Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by Sag, joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of the unions, and we support them,” Nolan said at the stage.

    The premiere was also moved up an hour so that the cast could walk the red carpet before the SAG board’s announcement.

    Christopher Nolan says the cast of #Oppenheimer left the premiere to ‘go and write their pickets’ and join the strike pic.twitter.com/rc2SaSxcfk
    — Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 13, 2023
    At the carpet, Damon told American news outlet Variety that once the strike is called, the cast will be walking off in “solidarity”.

    “We talked about it. Look, if it’s called now, everyone’s going to walk obviously in solidarity. That’s why we moved this (red carpet) up because we know the second it’s called, we’re going home,” the actor said.

    “We gave the strike authorisation. We voted 98 per cent to 2 per cent to do that because we know our leadership has our best interest at heart,” he added.

    His co-star Blunt said, “Obviously we stand with all of the actors and at whatever point it’s called, we’re going to be going home and standing together through it because I want everyone to get a fair deal.”

    The strike by Hollywood actors is the first strike since 1980.

    It is also the first instance when two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960.

    Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have been on strike since early May, demanding better wages, higher minimum pay, more writers per show, and shorter exclusive contracts among other things.

    “Oppenheimer” is set to be released in theatres worldwide on July 21.

    LOS ANGELES: The A-list cast of filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s new movie “Oppenheimer” left the film’s London screening midway in solidarity with the strike called by a Hollywood’s actors union.

    On Thursday, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (SAG-AFTRA) voted to join screenwriters in the first joint strike after failing to reach a consensus for a new contract with the studios and streaming services, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

    The London premiere of “Oppenheimer”, Nolan’s sprawling epic about J Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist remembered as one of the fathers of the atom bomb, saw lead stars Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Ramy Malek grace the red carpet.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Rami Malek, from left, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Cillian Murphy, director Christopher Nolan, Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Conti pose at the premiere for ‘Oppenheimer’ on July 13, 2023 in London. (AP)

    But they left before the screening of the movie in preparation for the imminent strike, the filmmaker announced later.

    “You’ve seen them here earlier on the red carpet. Unfortunately, they’re off to write their picket signs for what we believe to be an imminent strike by Sag, joining one of my guilds, the Writers Guild, in the struggle for fair wages for working members of the unions, and we support them,” Nolan said at the stage.

    The premiere was also moved up an hour so that the cast could walk the red carpet before the SAG board’s announcement.

    Christopher Nolan says the cast of #Oppenheimer left the premiere to ‘go and write their pickets’ and join the strike pic.twitter.com/rc2SaSxcfk
    — Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 13, 2023
    At the carpet, Damon told American news outlet Variety that once the strike is called, the cast will be walking off in “solidarity”.

    “We talked about it. Look, if it’s called now, everyone’s going to walk obviously in solidarity. That’s why we moved this (red carpet) up because we know the second it’s called, we’re going home,” the actor said.

    “We gave the strike authorisation. We voted 98 per cent to 2 per cent to do that because we know our leadership has our best interest at heart,” he added.

    His co-star Blunt said, “Obviously we stand with all of the actors and at whatever point it’s called, we’re going to be going home and standing together through it because I want everyone to get a fair deal.”

    The strike by Hollywood actors is the first strike since 1980.

    It is also the first instance when two major Hollywood unions have been on strike at the same time since 1960.

    Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have been on strike since early May, demanding better wages, higher minimum pay, more writers per show, and shorter exclusive contracts among other things.

    “Oppenheimer” is set to be released in theatres worldwide on July 21.

  • New trailer of Nolan’s Oppenheimer released

    By Express News Service

    A new trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was released by the makers on social media on Monday. The film is set to release on July 21 in theatres.

    Set against the backdrop of a national emergency and race against the Nazis, the trailer shows the efforts of America to build a nuclear bomb. The film’s central character Robert Oppenheimer is seen justifying the development to the media, as we see glimpses of Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and others.

    The film stars Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who is called the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ and his role in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Oppenheimer has been credited as the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, a place known for assembling bombs.

    Watch the new trailer for #Oppenheimer – only in theaters 7 21 23. pic.twitter.com/ZSrXov8Y3l
    — Oppenheimer (@OppenheimerFilm) May 8, 2023
    Cillian Murphy stars in the titular character, marking his debut as the lead in Nolan’s films. He has earlier appeared in the director’s Inception, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Dunkirk, to name a few. Apart from Cilian, Oppenheimer also stars Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, among others.

    A new trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was released by the makers on social media on Monday. The film is set to release on July 21 in theatres.

    Set against the backdrop of a national emergency and race against the Nazis, the trailer shows the efforts of America to build a nuclear bomb. The film’s central character Robert Oppenheimer is seen justifying the development to the media, as we see glimpses of Emily Blunt, Matt Damon and others.

    The film stars Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who is called the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ and his role in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Oppenheimer has been credited as the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, a place known for assembling bombs.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Watch the new trailer for #Oppenheimer – only in theaters 7 21 23. pic.twitter.com/ZSrXov8Y3l
    — Oppenheimer (@OppenheimerFilm) May 8, 2023
    Cillian Murphy stars in the titular character, marking his debut as the lead in Nolan’s films. He has earlier appeared in the director’s Inception, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Dunkirk, to name a few. Apart from Cilian, Oppenheimer also stars Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, among others.

  • WATCH: Cillian Murphy gets intense in Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ trailer

    By Express News Service

    The trailer of Oppenheimer, the upcoming American biographical film by filmmaker Christopher Nolan, was released by the makers on social media on Monday.

    The film stars Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who is called the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ and his role in the Manhattan project during World War II. Oppenheimer has been credited as the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, a place known for assembling bombs.

    The two-minute trailer opens with a close-up shot of a bomb blast, as intercuts are shown of the making of the bomb. “We imagine a future and our imaginings horrify us. They would fear it until they understand it, and they won’t understand it until they’ve used it,” Cillian as Oppenheimer says in the trailer.

    The film 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. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan. 

    Cillian Murphy stars in the titular character, marking his debut as the lead in Nolan’s films. He has earlier appeared in the director’s Inception, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Dunkirk, to name a few. Apart from Cilian, Oppenheimer also stars Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, among others.

    The trailer of Oppenheimer, the upcoming American biographical film by filmmaker Christopher Nolan, was released by the makers on social media on Monday.

    The film stars Cillian Murphy as J Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who is called the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ and his role in the Manhattan project during World War II. Oppenheimer has been credited as the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, a place known for assembling bombs.

    The two-minute trailer opens with a close-up shot of a bomb blast, as intercuts are shown of the making of the bomb. “We imagine a future and our imaginings horrify us. They would fear it until they understand it, and they won’t understand it until they’ve used it,” Cillian as Oppenheimer says in the trailer.

    The film 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. The film is produced by Emma Thomas, Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan. 

    Cillian Murphy stars in the titular character, marking his debut as the lead in Nolan’s films. He has earlier appeared in the director’s Inception, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Dunkirk, to name a few. Apart from Cilian, Oppenheimer also stars Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, among others.