With the release of Oppenheimer just a little under two months away, it won’t be long before audiences get to experience another groundbreaking film from director Christopher Nolan. And it appears that the acclaimed filmmaker is aiming for older audiences this time around, as Oppenheimer is officially rated R for “some sexuality, nudity, and language,” according to a recent teaser for the film.
The upcoming film will be the first Nolan-directed feature to receive an R-rating since Insomnia, which was released over 20 years ago in 2002. While an R-rating does cut off younger audience members, it could serve as appropriate counter-programming to Barbie, which releases on the same weekend this summer. However, with the movie carrying a $100 million budget, word-of-mouth will be crucial to its box office performance, especially in a competitive summer movie season. But if Tenet was able to cross over $365 million during the height of the pandemic in 2020, then perhaps Nolan’s name alone is enough to serve Universal another hit this year.
For audiences eager to see the movie, the film’s official Twitter account has announced that IMAX, premium format tickets, and special engagement tickets are now officially on sale. Fittingly so as Nolan has always embraced seeing his movie on the big screen, with his productions utilizing the IMAX format to create an epic and immersive experience. Oppenheimer continues the filmmaker’s dedication to the format, with previous reports stating that the movie is shot entirely on IMAX film, which means audiences are in for an epic jaw-dropping experience in theaters this summer.
Oppenheimer Will Differentiate From Other Christopher Nolan Projects
Nolan previously tackled the World War II era in 2017 with Dunkirk. However, unlike Oppenheimer, the film was released with a PG-13 rating, which received some early criticisms due to its setting, which would have benefited from fully showcasing the brutalities of war. Interestingly, despite being a film focused on the horrors of nuclear destruction, Oppenheimer’s R-rating doesn’t appear to reflect any violence, which could mean that the story will likely only focus on the dramatic side of the real-life figure. Needless to say, the movie will serve as a unique experience compared to other Nolan projects, with the film partially shot in black-and-white as well. Since the movie is set to center on one of the most controversial figures from a dark period in history, it will be interesting to see how Nolan plans to tackle such heavy themes in Oppenheimer. Only time will tell when audiences get to fully immerse themselves in another heart-racing story from the acclaimed filmmaker.
Premium format tickets for Oppenheimer are now on sale. The film will be released exclusively in theaters on July 21.
via Collider