We all know that Christopher Nolan is not the biggest fan of streaming. He makes his movies for the big screen (and, like, IMAX big at that) and he wants you to experience them that way. But obviously not everyone has the time or the money to see everything they want theatrically. Some stuff you just have to wait.
So if you have been waiting to see Nolan’s Oppenheimer, here’s some good news: The film is almost ready to premiere on streaming. It will debut next month on Peacock.
The film stars Cillian Murphy as the famed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped lead the team that designed and built the very first atomic bomb. Nolan’s film considers the bomb’s creation as well as its literal and figurative fallout, both for Oppenheimer himself and for the world at large.
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The film was a major hit in theaters, grossing almost $1 billion worldwide — astronomical numbers for a three hour film about a scientist. It’s now generating major Oscar buzz and is one of the big frontrunners to win Best Picture at the upcoming Academy Awards.
Oppenheimer really was one of Nolan’s great films. It made my list of the best movies of 2023 as well; as I wrote in my review…
Oppenheimer is intelligent non-IP-driven filmmaking on a scale we simply don’t see in movie theaters anymore — especially not in mid-July. At this time of year, we’re so used to movies filled with explosions we become numb to them. Oppenheimer really only contains one bomb — one whose fate we know right from the start — but it’s astonishing how much drama that one blast generates, because Nolan so clearly shows what it meant, not only to Oppenheimer, but to the entire world.
Oppenheimer premieres on Peacock streaming on February 16. Just in time for the big crush of Oscar attention. Smart! If you can’t wait that long and you’re in the Los Angeles area, it is back at the Chinese Theatre in 70mm. That is, for sure, the way Nolan would prefer you see the film.
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