Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer Reveals First Trailer for Star-Studded Film

The first trailer for Christopher Nolan's star-studded Oppenheimer has found its way online, prominently featuring Cillian Murphy as the eponymous J. Robert Oppenheimer. Keeping cameos from other members of the ensemble to a minimum, the trailer for the biopic introduces the internal struggle Oppenheimer lived with while leading the Manhattan Project, the government mission in charge of building the first nuclear weapon.

"It's a story of immense scope and scale," Nolan previously told Total Film of the picture. "And one of the most challenging projects I've ever taken on in terms of the scale of it, and in terms of encountering the breadth of Oppenheimer's story. There were big, logistical challenges, big practical challenges. But I had an extraordinary crew, and they really stepped up. It will be a while before we're finished. But certainly as I watch the results come in, and as I'm putting the film together, I'm thrilled with what my team has been able to achieve."

In the movie is a recreation of the Trinity test, the first nuclear weapons test carried out by the government. In standard Nolan fashion, he and his crew practically recreated the explosion instead of using computer-generated imagery.

"I think recreating the Trinity test [the first nuclear weapon detonation, in New Mexico] without the use of computer graphics, was a huge challenge to take on," the filmmaker added. "Andrew Jackson – my visual effects supervisor, I got him on board early on – was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, a lot of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there – there were huge practical challenges."

In addition to Murphy, Oppenheimer features a star-studded ensemble of Hollywood A-listers, including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, and dozens of others.

Opening on July 21, 2023, Oppenheimer is based on Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.