Oppenheimer has been steadily breaking records at the box office since it hit theaters earlier this year. Not only has it become Christopher Nolan’s highest-grossing film aside from his Batman trilogy, it’s also become the second-highest grossing R-rated movie of all time too.
Now, the Cillian Murphy-led movie has another record under its belt as it becomes the highest grossing biopic in film history. The accolade was previously held by Bohemian Rhapsody, the Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic that was released in 2018. Interestingly too, this means that the top two grossing biopics star Rami Malek.
Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Murphy), the American theoretical physicist who is often called the "father of the atomic bomb". His leading role in World War Two’s Manhattan Project helped develop the first nuclear weapons, which were used to devastating impact on Japan.
- The Brutalist director hopes his new movie proves Oppenheimer's commercial success wasn't a fluke: "People are actually interested in all of these things that sales companies frequently tell you are like box office poison"
- Netflix CCO claims that Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer would have had same cultural impact if it was a Netflix exclusive
The movie has been widely acclaimed (including landing five stars from Total Film) with praise given to Nolan’s tense storytelling and Murphy’s incredible performance. Other cast members of the star-studded film include Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon.
Oppenheimer is expected to break some more box office records too, given that it’s got a theatrical release window of at least 100 days. This means, unlike Barbie, you shouldn’t be expecting it on digital release for a while longer yet.
For what else you have to look forward to at the cinema this year, check out our breakdown of all the upcoming movies on the way.
