Christopher Nolan's biographical World War II epic Oppenheimer keeps on getting bigger, as yet another prestigious cast member has been found in Tony Goldwyn. The King Richard star is the latest hot ticket in Nolan's upcoming film.
Nolan's film will star Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. The Universal film is based on American Prometheus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Oppenheimer is Nolan's first film not released by Warner Bros. In twenty years, as he left the studio following disagreements over the COVID-era releases of Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news about Goldwyn joining the ensemble cast of Oppenheimer, which includes Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Benny Safdie, Josh Peck, and many more. Goldwyn's role remains undisclosed at this time, though THR previously stated during a report on Alex Wolff's casting that the talent being signed usually doesn't know what role they're playing, no matter how small, until their deal is closed. Nevertheless, several actors appear to be eager to sign onto Oppenheimer regardless of how significant their role may be.
Any Nolan disciples shouldn't be surprised by his interest in Oppenheimer. One of his recent releases was Dunkirk, another WWII-era epic, and his most recent film, Tenet, contained many thematic references to the scientist. Nolan is fascinated by technological evolutions, in both the good and evil they cause, and the rise and fall of Dr. Oppenheimer will be a perfect canvas for that.
While Oppenheimer is still a massive project with a $100 million budget, it's still a noticeably smaller film than Tenet. This seems to be a career move for Nolan, as Tenet remains his only commercial disappointment. That wasn't necessarily his fault, as its 2020 release all but guaranteed failure. But with its incredibly complicated story, Tenet remains divisive amongst critics and fans, with its current reputation being more of a cult hit than a bona fide success.
As Oppenheimer places Nolan back in Oscar-friendly biopic territory, this will be a great opportunity to reestablish himself as one of our finest living directors. And he's already done it before, as some detractors were worried he was losing it after The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar, only to be proven wrong with Dunkirk. If anyone is worried about the post-Tenet studio shift, Oppenheimer will almost surely put those fears to rest. Nolan has knocked it out of the park ever since Memento, and there's no sign he's slipping any time soon.
Oppenheimer is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 21, 2023.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter