Let's learn some interesting facts about Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer
One of the biggest movies of 2023 was Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Not only did it smash box office records becoming one highest-grossing rated R movies of all time, but it’s also won a Golden Globe and is nominated for an Oscar.
Here are some interesting facts about Oppenheimer that you may not have known:
1. Cillian Murphy said he found the role “immense and terrifying.”
In 2022, Cillian Murphy spoke with Esquire where he revealed that the role felt “immense and terrifying” when it was first presented to him.
“But, if I felt it was easy, I wouldn’t be interested. I do get nervous, anxious, and insecure, but then you go, ‘F— it. I have been doing it for 25 years and I have done it before. So just keep going,” he said in the interview.
2. The Trinity Test recreation was filmed without special effects
Christopher Nolan decided to film the atomic bomb test without using any CGI or visual effects. Everything you see on the screen took place during filming, just on a much smaller scale.
Visual effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher explained that his team created real ‘miniature’ explosions and filmed those. With the use of miniature creations and camera angles, they could make the test blast look as big as it did on the screen.
To create the intense burning created by the successful test run, Scott’s team used gasoline and propane, while aluminium powder and magnesium were added to replicate the blinding white light of a nuclear explosion.
Scott added: “We really wanted everyone to talk about that flash, that brightness. So we tried to replicate that as much as we could.”
3. The film features the first-ever black and white IMAX film stock.
Oppenheimer features several scenes in black and white, meant to show different timelines and perspectives.
Since the director wanted the black and white portions to be of equal image quality, it led to the development of the first-ever black and white IMAX film stock made by Kodak and developed by Fotokem.
4. Cillian Murphy got his role without auditioning
Cillian Murphy, who played the role of J. Robert Oppenheimer, said during an during an interview with Radio 2 that he received a casual call from Nolan, who explained he had the perfect lead role for him.
“If you’re lucky you get one or two of those [calls] in your career, you know?” he said. “It was the best, best feeling. It was kind of euphoric, and then you go ‘oh that’s a lot of work’. So I immediately just started working.
“I had like six months before, between when he called me and we started the shoot. The script was solid and was there. It was one of the greatest scripts I’ve ever read. It was magnificent.”
Oppenheimer marks Christopher and Cillian’s sixth film together.
5. The cast of the film lived together in New Mexico
Emily Blunt, who played Kitty Oppenheimer, told People magazine that it was like a “summer camp” as the film’s ensemble cast lived together in New Mexico during production.
However, even though they lived in close proximity, Cillian mostly sat out on any group activities.
“We were all in the same hotel in the middle of the New Mexican desert,” Blunt said. “We only had each other. Me and Matt [Damon] were roommates and we were like, ‘Let’s go to have dinner.’”
Murphy did not attend because “the sheer volume of what he had to take on and shoulder is so monumental,” Blunt added.
