A red inferno burns in the otherwise black-and-white trailer for Christopher Nolan’s new film, Oppenheimer. The flames are ostensibly the creation of the film’s main subject: J. Robert Oppenheimer’s atom bombs. Nolan’s new picture, shot in Imax by his frequent collaborator, Nope’s Hoyte van Hoytema, concerns the theoretical physicist who served as the head of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II, the same lab that participated in the Manhattan Project to develop the first nuclear weapons. “The world is changing, reforming. This is your moment,†an unseen Katherine Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt) tells her husband, played by another frequent Nolan-er, Cillian Murphy. J. Robert Oppenheimer is the only character to appear onscreen in the teaser, with only enough time to brood against windows, fix his hat, and encounter eager reporters. The trailer arrives after its exclusive theater debut before Nope screenings and currently runs on a constant loop live on Twitter and YouTube.
The rest of the cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz, Michael Angarano, and Kenneth Branagh. Based on the Pulitzer-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird, the film arrives in theaters July 21, 2023, and will absolutely not hit streaming services until Nolan deems it appropriate.