Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy calls the film’s screenplay the best he’s ever read. Based on the Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus, Christopher Nolan’s upcoming biological drama stars Murphy as the titular character, the American physicist considered the “father of the atomic bomb.” Featuring an expansive ensemble cast, Oppenheimer includes Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as the director of the Manhattan Project Leslie Groves Jr., Robert Downey Jr. as the U.S. Atomic Energy Commissioner Lewis Strauss, and Josh Hartnett as Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ernest Lawrence among many others.
Speaking with Rolling Stone UK, Murphy offered Nolan a wealth of praise and declared the writer-director’s Oppenheimer script the “best” he has ever read. The actor also professed his love for cinema and proudly called himself a “Chris Nolan fan.” Read Murphy’s full quote below:
“It’s the best script I ever read. I think the film is sensational. As a person who loves films — I’m not saying it ’cause I’m in the f**king thing, I hate looking at myself — but as a lover of film, as a cinephile, I’m a Chris Nolan fan.”
Why The Oppenheimer Script Is Unique
Murphy first collaborated with Nolan on Batman Begins, portraying the psychotic Dr. Crane, who used his alter ego, The Scarecrow, to strike fear into his victims. The actor made an impact on the British director, reappearing in several of his films, including Inception, where he played the film’s key role as the mark in Nolan’s elaborate mind heist plot. However, Oppenheimer may prove to be Murphy and Nolan’s biggest project yet, starting with the film’s script.
Nolan penned Oppenheimer‘s screenplay in a different way than he had all his previous films. Generally, film and television scripts are written in the third-person, present tense, but Nolan chose to write Oppenheimer from a first-person perspective, something rarely done in Hollywood. As a result, the script allows a distinct look at Robert Oppenheimer while creating a film’s vision and character that is deeply introspective.
Nolan’s daring take on Oppenheimer‘s screenplay may lead to the director’s richest character study, dissecting the mind of a man who helped create one of the most feared weapons in human history while also becoming the weapon’s most fearsome critics. Hence, Oppenheimer will show Murphy as a deeply complex scientist like never before.
Key Release Date
Oppenheimer
Release Date:2023-07-21
