EXCLUSIVE: The ensemble for Christopher Nolan’s next film Oppenheimer keeps growing in star power as sources tell Deadline Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr. are in talks to join Cillian Murphy in the Universal Pictures tentpole. Deadline previously reported that Emily Blunt is in talks to join the cast as well. Nolan is writing and directing the film that revolves around J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist who ran the Manhattan Project that led to the invention of the atomic bomb. The film will bow on July 21, 2023, a slot typically saved for Nolan films in the past. It’s also roughly two weeks before the anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima. Details behind who Damon and Downey Jr. will be playing in the project are being kept under wraps.
Reps for Universal, Damon and Downey Jr. could not be reached for comment.
Universal will distribute Oppenheimer theatrically worldwide and release the film in North America. Nolan will also be producing along with Emma Thomas and Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.
Deadline was first to announce this would be Nolan’s next film and also broke the news of Universal landing the rights to the project following a heated bidding war among almost every major suitor in town. Deadline also first mentioned that Murphy would have a key role in the project, which is now confirmed to be the man at the center of the story.
Nolan is known for having ensembles with a mix of talent he’s worked with in the past, along with stars he would be working with for the first time. This film touches both areas. Damon previously worked with Nolan on his sci-fi epic Interstellar. As for Downey Jr., this would mark the first time the two will work together on a project.
Both Damon and Downey Jr. are repped by WME.