Oppenheimer 2023: Release date, trailer, plot, cast, budget, OTT platform and more

A kind of inexplicable hysteria sets in among moviegoers across the world every time a Christopher Nolan film stands around the corner. It could be because of the mastery that the filmmaker executes on the big screen, the moral and the ethical dilemmas that his stories pose, or the simple, yet inexplicable, fact that there lies a need or desire in every film buff to be titillated with a puzzle that they can almost never solve. 

A Nolan film is all this and more rolled into one so, every time there's a new chance to relive that experience, one hardly finds the will or the audacity to pass up. This time around, it's Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer, as the name suggests, traces the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer with the heart of the drama focused entirely on his most renowned and controversial creation, the atomic bomb. Christopher Nolan brings to life this sensational and equally poignant story in a manner that only he can and presents it with flair, gravitas and perhaps also a sense of responsibility - Oppenheimer is shot entirely on 65 mm IMAX and large-format film and promises to be one of the most amazing cinematic experiences of all time. 

As we countdown to the release, here's a rundown of everything we know about it:

Release Date

Among many other things, Oppenheimer hit the news not very long ago as the first Christopher Nolan film, since Memento (2000), not to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. After his famous fallout with the studio a couple of years ago, Universal Pictures were brought on board for distribution and it was announced later on that the film would release theatrically on July 21, 2023. The film had its first premiere on July 11, 2023, at Le Grand Rex in Paris, France and later at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London, England, on July 13.

Trailer

Plot

Based on the 2005 biography 'American Prometheus' by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the film version attempts to recreate the moments leading to the conception and creation of the world's first nuclear weapon, the atomic bomb. Christopher Nolan also loosely describes his film as a paradoxical exploration of the mind of an 'enigmatic man' who is compelled to create a weapon of self-defence which, in essence, can potentially destroy the world. 

Oppenheimer also focuses firmly on the Manhattan Project, a United States military undertaking project that was led by Robert Oppenheimer under the guidance of Major General Leslie Groves. 

Cast

Much like the previous Chris Nolan outings, Oppenheimer, too, boasts a supremely talented ensemble cast which includes Cillian Murphy in the titular role, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, Emily Blunt as Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie and several others. 

Budget

The exact amount bankrolled into the making of Oppenheimer has been another subject of discussion with two specific figures mostly cropping up each time. While Wikipedia states that the film has been made at $100 million, Variety magazine recently quoted Nolan himself as saying that the budget is or was $180 million. Soon after, Universal confirmed that the previously released number of $100 million stands more accurate.

OTT Platform

With the theatrical viewing prescribed as the best and perhaps the only method to experience the film, the buzz around the OTT release date of Oppenheimer is quite restricted at the moment. As of now, there is no official news on when or where would the film eventually land for its digital debut.