Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Oppenheimer: Christopher Nolan fans in disbelief after he ‘recreates first nuclear explosion without CGI’

He’s pulled off his most ambitious stunt yet

Jacob Stolworthy
Thursday 27 April 2023 06:29 EDT
Comments
Oppenheimer teaser trailer

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Christopher Nolan fans are expressing disbelief over the director’s claim regarding new film Oppenheimer.

The director has started doing promotion for his next film, which tells the story of atomic bomb creator, J Robert Oppenheimer.

In the film, Oppenheimer, who is often described as the father of the atomic bomb, will be played by Cillian Murphy.

Nolan has become known for shunning CGI in favour of pulling off stunts for real. For example, to depict the zero degree gravity scene in Inception, he created a rotating corridor in order to capture the moment practically and then, in Dunkirk, he ound real war ships for the film’s battle scenes.

In his most recent film, Tenet, the director crashed a real plane into a building.

He’s gone one further with Oppenheimer – the filmmaker recreated a nuclear weapon detonation in New Mexico, without using any special effects.

“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,” Nolan told Total Film.

“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.”

The director’s fans are reacting to the news with a series of hilarious memes on social media.

Oppenheimer will be led by Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robery Downey Jr and Florence Pugh.

The film’s cast also includes Matthew Modine, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Dane DeHaan, Benny Safdie, David Krumholtz, Jack Quaid, and Alden Ehrenreich.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in