Oppenheimer: it’s already a huge hit before the release

For the moment, Oppenheimer has everything to make a successful start thanks to the first rave reviews. Everything is in place for this to be one of the biggest hits of 2023 and Christopher Nolan.

H-48 ahead of Oppenheimer’s theatrical release this Wednesday, July 19 – the same day as Barbie. Christopher Nolan’s new movieMemento, Prestige…) which continues the screenings after the world premiere last week at the Grand Rex. A choice which may have been surprising but which is explained by the fact that the director felt indebted to the Parisian cinema. Following this evening, the first opinions were published and it is a real plebiscite. Extremely positive feedback that already makes Oppenheimer a nice box. Now, what will happen when it will be visible worldwide to everyone?

Oppenheimer’s crazy reviews

The return to grace of Christopher Nolan with Oppenheimer ? His latest film Tenet, which was the most radical to date, further divided audiences and failed to break even. A second “failure” would therefore be damaging for the British-American filmmaker, but for the moment, it does not take the path. The first reviews are all pointing in the same direction. We probably have an incredible feature film that should make an impression.

For Jonathan Dean of the Sunday Times, Oppenheimer climbs directly into his top 3 of Nolan’s filmography. And it’s not the only one since others speak of the film as being the “best of Nolan”. Just that. The skeptical Gregory Ellwood of The Paylist was pleasantly surprised. “I was skeptical but Oppenheimer is still in my head since I saw him last week. Yes, it is 3 hours long, but in a Scorsese way. The final 20 minutes, which is why Emily Blunt clearly accepted the role, brings all three story arcs together for a moving conclusion. adding that Ludwig Göransson’s soundtrack is a “masterpiece in itself”.

The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin isn’t quite sure how to give his spoiler-free review, but the bottom line is: the movie is a “total knockout” for him. “I’m torn between being evasive and mysterious about Oppenheimer, and saying it was a real uppercut that blew my head off like a plutonium core. He made me burst into tears during the whole end credits and made me forget about everything else” he said on Twitter.

At Vulture, it’s the same story. It’s a feature film ” tremendous “, “dreadful” with a scenario that is worth the detour. “Oppenheimer is…great. The word that comes to mind is “terrible”. A complex, incredibly detailed and relentlessly paced historical drama. A film that builds all the way until Nolan delivers it in the most stunning and heartbreaking way.” says Bilge Ebiri.

An essential commercial success for Christopher Nolan

Useless to seek negative opinions in France on Oppenheimer, because for the moment, it is also a major plebiscite. What better than the Interstellar jewel? The new baby of Christopher Nolan seems to have everything to please and fortunately. Indeed, the director’s last project, Tenet, was a failure. With a box office of more than 365 million dollars for a budget of 250 million, excluding promotional costs, the account was not there at all. Blame it on a bad movie? No, but the complexity, more than normal, probably played on word of mouth. Also, at the time of release, the world was barely clear of COVID-19 and people weren’t flocking to theaters as hoped.

After Tenet, Nolan and Warner Bros, the distributor of the feature film, parted ways. The director strongly opposed Warner’s strategy, which was to make film productions available simultaneously in cinemas and on the HBO Max SVOD platform.

Following this divorce, Christopher Nolan was then courted from all sides and but turned to Universal Pictures. This is how he notably received around 100 million dollars to box Oppenheimer. A budget similar to Dunkirk. For example, it was more like 165 million for Interstellar or 185 million dollars for Batman The Dark Knight. Barring a huge disappointment, and given the returns, the profitability should be there.