Christopher Nolan took the stage at CinemaCon on Wednesday (U.S. Pacific Time) to unveil dramatic new footage from Oppenheimer, his sweeping look at the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped create the atomic bomb.
A big advocate for the big screen and a critic of streaming, Nolan was greeted with huge applause from the movie theatre owners gathered for the convention, according to Variety.
“I know of no more dramatic tale with higher stakes,” he said of his latest opus.
The footage shared by Nolan, Variety notes, has scenes of the physicist’s team engaged in the top-secret work of making the bomb, but the movie also spins forward in time to a point where Russia has developed its atomic technology, triggering suspicions of espionage at Los Alamos.
Nolan said the film’s protagonist made decisions that still reverberate to this day. One of the most acclaimed and financially successful filmmakers in Hollywood, Nolan has helmed the Dark Knight trilogy, as well as Inception and Dunkirk.
The film features an ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, David Krumholtz, Michael Angarano and Kenneth Branagh.
Oppenheimer eyes a theatrical release on July 21.