Christopher Nolan recalls the “extraordinary experience” of showing Oppenheimer to Steven Spielberg. From the director of The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk, Nolan’s latest masterpiece chronicles the career of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who spearheaded development of the atomic bomb on the Manhattan Project during World War II and suffered a great political and personal fallout. Cillian Murphy leads the all-star Oppenheimer cast alongside Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and many more.
During a recent Q&A with Dune director Denis Villeneuve for the Associated Press, Nolan recalled showing Oppenheimer to “the great master” Steven Spielberg, who was one of the first to see the 70mm print. Nolan sat behind Spielberg while he watched the film, which “was an extraordinary experience.” According to Villeneuve, Spielberg “absolutely adored it.” Read their full comments below:
Nolan: You know when I first got the 70mm/5perf print, I showed it to Steven Spielberg. He had called me about something else and I had just got the print as well and I hadn’t shown it to anyone. I mean, the studio had seen it. But we screened it for him on his own. I sat behind him and watched him watch the film. It was an extraordinary experience.
Villeneuve: He told me he absolutely adored it.
Nolan: He said some very kind things, but really just to watch him watch. I wasn’t even supposed to watch it with him, but seeing the great master watching? It was sort of irresistible.
Every Steven Spielberg Movie Ranked From Worst To Best
From industry-defining blockbusters to heartfelt prestige films, here are all 34 movies from director Steven Spielberg, ranked from worst to best.
What Other Directors Have Said About Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer has not only received a cacophony of praise from critics and captured the public’s imagination with nearly $1 billion at the box office, but it has also earned immense respect from some of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, which proves just how brilliant Nolan’s work is. Villeneuve, who appeared alongside Nolan for the Q&A, has called Oppenheimer a “masterpiece,” and is especially in awe of how a dialogue-heavy, three-hour biopic about a physicist utilizes the full extent of the IMAX experience. Read his full quote below:
But where it is right now has blown the roof off of my projection. It’s a three-hour movie about people talking about nuclear physics. The future of cinema is IMAX and the large formats. The audience wants to see something that they cannot have at home, that they cannot have on streaming. They want to experience an event. There’s this notion that movies, in some people’s minds, became content instead of an art form. I hate that word, “content.” That movies like Oppenheimer are released on the big screen and become an event brings back a spotlight on the idea that it’s a tremendous art form that needs to be experienced in theaters.
Paul Thomas Anderson – the masterful director behind Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, and more – also saw a 70mm print of Oppenheimer and echoed Villeneuve’s sentiment, saying it’s the superior way to see the film. Other acclaimed filmmakers like Paul Schrader called Oppenheimer “the best, most important film of this century,” while Oliver Stone called it an instant “classic” that he “never believed could be made in this climate.” Next month, Oppenheimer should cap off its banner year by winning Best Picture at the 2024 Oscars, where the film is nominated for a leading total of 13 Academy Awards.
Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer is a film by Christopher Nolan, which follows the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb. Cillian Murphy will play the titular role, with the story based on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
