Christopher Nolan’s Next Movie Is About the Father of the Atomic Bomb

Christopher Nolan is eyeing his next movie which will again be set in World War 2. This time, it’s a biopic about the father of the atom bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer. And Nolan is supposedly looking to work with a studio that isn’t Warner Bros. 

According to Deadline, Nolan is going to follow up his high-concept thriller Tenet with another historical picture about World War 2. This film will follow Oppenheimer and his role in developing the atomic bomb.

Also according to the report, Nolan is shopping the screenplay to several major studios. It appears Nolan is making good on his promise to not work with Warner Bros. after the latter announced it would begin releasing movies day-and-date on theaters and HBO Max. This move was deeply unpopular with directors like Nolan, James Gunn, Denis Villeneuve, and Patty Jenkins.

Warner Bros opted to release Tenet exclusively in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic to sluggish box office returns. Keep in mind Tenet was released before vaccines became readily available.

Oppenheimer was an American physicist who was crucial to the United States Manhattan Project, a top-secret operation tasked with developing the first nuclear weapons. Oppenheimer was there during the Trinity test in New Mexico, the site of the first successful atom bomb detonation in 1945.

Following the detonations of the bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan, Oppenheimer publicly opposed the proliferation of nuclear weapons as part of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.

Deadline doesn’t have details on casting, though claims Nolan is reaching out to frequent collaborator Cillian Murphy who has appeared in several of Nolan’s movies. 

Nolan’s last historical movie about World War 2 was 2017’s Dunkirk, which was about rescuing stranded Allied soldiers trapped in France. While not a sci-fi film, Nolan employed multiple timelines to heighten the drama. 

IGN’s Dunkirk review praised the movie calling it a “monumental, unconventional, and frequently stunning war movie.”

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.