Christopher Nolan’s biopic about the father of the atomic bomb continues to attract Hollywood’s A-list.
Florence Pugh, Rami Malek and Benny Safdie are the latest actors to bring their nuclear star power to Oppenheimer, Nolan’s biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, which is set at Universal Pictures.
The trio join Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy on the call sheet in what has become one of the most stacked feature film projects of recent times.
Universal has called the film an “epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the frenetic paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world to save it.”
Murphy leads the cast, playing the theoretical physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb during World War II.
Pugh will play Jean Tatlock, a member of the Communist Party of the United States who has an on-off affair with Oppenheimer and was the cause of significant security concerns for government officials.
Safdie will play Edward Teller, the Hungarian physicist known as the father of the hydrogen bomb and a member of the Manhattan Project, the American research initiative that developed the first atomic bomb.
Malek plays a scientist.
Already on the shortlist are Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife, Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, and Damon as Lt. General Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project. Downey plays Lewis Strauss, the infamous chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission who started hearings questioning Oppenheimer’s loyalty to the United States and became famous for revoking the scientist’s safety clearance.
Nolan wrote the script and is directing, while his creative partner and wife, Emma Thomas, is producing with Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven. The project is based on American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. Published in 2005, the book won the Pulitzer Prize.
The studio has set a release date of July 21, 2023 for Oppenheimer.
Pugh, who earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in 2019’s Little Women, starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in Marvel. Black widow, which brought in nearly $ 380 million when it launched in July, a solid demonstration for a pandemic-era launch. She repeats her killer spy character of Yelena Belova for him Hawkeye TV series, now set on Disney +. She will soon be seen as part of Olivia Wilde’s collective thriller, Do not worry honey, which New Line will launch on September 23, 2022.
Malek comes off a villainous twist in the James Bond movie No time to die, which, with a total of 765 million dollars, is the highest grossing American film of the year. The actor, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, will appear in David O. Russell’s latest film, an untitled drama due out next year.
Safdie is one half of the acclaimed director duo, the Safdie Brothers, known for films such as Good time and Uncut gems. Safdie is also an actor in his own right and plays a key role in the Paul Thomas Anderson film. Liquorice pizza. He also has a role in the Star Wars series. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Lionsgate’s Are you there God? It’s me, margaret.
Pugh is represented by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and the UK Curtis Brown Group. Malek is represented by WME and Brillstein, Safdie by WME, Untitled Entertainment and Lichter Grossman.