Star cast
Damon and Downey Jr. in “Oppenheimer” drama
Matt Damon poses in Christopher Nolan’s physicist drama. Photo: Joel C Ryan / Invision / AP / dpa
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The list of Hollywood stars for Christopher Nolan’s new film is growing: Robert Downing Jr. and Matt Damon will take on roles in the drama “Oppenheimer”.
Director Christopher Nolan (51, “The Dark Knight”, “Dunkirk”) is expanding the star cast for his planned drama about the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Robert Downey Jr. (56, “Avengers: Endgame”) and Matt Damon (51, “Stillwater – Against Any Suspicion”) should play in “Oppenheimer”, as the US industry papers “Variety” and “Hollywood Reporter” reported on Tuesday . Nothing was known about their roles.
At the beginning of October, the Universal Pictures studio announced that the Irish actor Cillian Murphy (45, “Dunkirk”) would play the “father of the atomic bomb” as the main actor. Emily Blunt (38, “A Quiet Place”) is in discussion for the role of Oppenheimer’s wife Katherine. The biopic is due to hit theaters in July 2023.
The film takes place during the Second World War, when Oppenheimer (1904-1967) played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb. The American of German-Jewish descent headed the top-secret Manhattan project in Los Alamos. After the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, Oppenheimer was shocked by the destructive power of the bomb, campaigned against the use of nuclear weapons and fell victim to an anti-communist hunt in the USA.