Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a drama about the development of the atomic bomb, has just added Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon.
According to Deadline, the pair are now in talks to join Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan’s upcoming World War II epic.
Unfortunately, there are no further details about who Downey and Damon will be playing in the upcoming film, with details reportedly being “kept under wraps”. However, it has been confirmed that Cillian Murphy will star as Robert J Oppenheimer – who is commonly referred to as the father of the atomic bomb.
Alongside regular Nolan contributor Murphy, it’s also previously been reported that Emily Blunt is also in talks for an unknown role.
Now, Robert Downey Jr and Matt Damon join this increasingly illustrious cast. Damon has previously worked with Christopher Nolan on the hit sci-fi epic, Interstellar, while this marks the first time Robert Downey Jr. and Nolan will have worked together.
Oppenheimer also marks the first time Nolan has worked with Universal, which picked up the rights to the movie following an extensive bidding war. His move to Universal follows controversial comments about Warner Bros. launching their films day and date on HBO Max – the director calling it “the worst streaming service”.
Nolan is also looking at a $100 million budget for Oppenheimer, which he considers “smaller-scale” compared to his previous films. He was also rather demanding when it comes to this project, expecting “total creative control, 20 percent of first-dollar gross, and a blackout period from which the studio wherein the company would not release another movie three weeks before or three weeks after his release.”
Christopher Nolan will produce Oppenheimer along with Emma Thomas and Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven. The film is based on the Pulitzer-winning book, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is set to premiere on July 21, 2023.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.