Not long now until the most potentially divisive cinematic release date in history – yes, in just a few weeks, both Christopher Nolan’s thriller Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s pastel-tastic Barbie will be hitting the big screen. The former is Nolan’s 12th feature film – and, as revealed at the end of a new American TV spot promoting the J. Robert Oppenheimer pic, it will be his first one to be rated R in the US in two decades, the last being his 2002 crime drama, Insomnia.
Though plenty of Nolan’s films since Insomnia have featured some pretty dark themes – a method of time-travel that could mean the end of the world, an intense recreation of the events of Dunkirk, his moody, violent Batman trilogy – and definitely aren’t the most kid-friendly material, all have received a 12 rating here in the UK, aka. a PG-13 in the US. This newly confirmed R-rating in the States (the approximate UK equivalent of a 15) implies Nolan is stepping that darkness up a gear – hardly surprising, given Oppenheimer is all about the development and detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. The UK rating is yet to be confirmed.
Cillian Murphy, frequent Nolan collaborator, takes the lead in Oppenheimer as the titular physicist, with an epic supporting cast including Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, and many more. Prepare to be blown away – hopefully not literally, though it was shot in IMAX – when Oppenheimer lands in UK cinemas on 21 July.