Robert Downey Jr. and\u00a0Matt Damon\u00a0will star in\u00a0Christopher Nolan\u2019s upcoming World War II epic \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d a drama about the development of the atomic bomb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not clear who Downey Jr. and Damon will be playing in the film. Nolan is assembling a star-studded cast, one that includes Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as his wife Katherine. Oppenheimer, a physicist who was integral to the Manhattan Project, is known as the father of the atomic bomb. Though exact plot details have been kept under wraps, the story is expected to dramatize the creation of the nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Universal Pictures is distributing \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d which the studio describes as an \u201cepic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.\u201d The film carries a $100 million production budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Universal won the rights to the project in a heated bidding war against Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. By choosing to work with Universal on his next feature, Nolan, the filmmaker behind \u201cThe Dark Knight,\u201d \u201cInception\u201d and \u201cTenet,\u201d severed a 20-year relationship with Warner Bros. (His 2014 sci-fi movie \u201cInterstellar\u201d was distributed by Paramount in North America and Warner Bros. internationally). However, his long-time union with the studio that backed all of his biggest movies\u00a0grew strained during the pandemic\u00a0after Warner Bros. announced its 2021 slate would premiere on HBO Max on the same day as their respective theatrical releases. Nolan\u2019s latest big-budget tentpole \u201cTenet\u201d opened in September 2020 and played exclusively in theaters, generating $58 million in North America and $363 million globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOppenheimer\u201d is slated to open in cinemas on July 21, 2023. In addition to directing, Nolan will adapt the screenplay from the Pulitzer Prize-winning book \u201cAmerican Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer\u201d by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Production\u202fwill begin in early 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Downey Jr. recently bid adieu as Iron Man in Disney and Marvel\u2019s superhero smash \u201cAvengers: Endgame,\u201d which broke nearly every box office record in history. He followed up the biggest blockbuster of his career with Universal\u2019s family friendly adventure \u201cDolittle,\u201d which flopped in theaters. Damon\u2019s latest film roles were in Tom McCarthy\u2019s crime drama \u201cStillwater\u201d and Ridley Scott\u2019s period drama \u201cThe Last Duel,\u201d which he co-wrote with Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deadline Hollywood first reported the news of Downey Jr. and Damon\u2019s casting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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