Denis Villeneuve and Paul Thomas Anderson heap praise upon “masterpiece” ‘Oppenheimer’
Acclaimed directors Denis Villeneuve and Paul Thomas Anderson have respectively paid their respects to Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster, Oppenheimer.
The biographical film, starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, follows the physicist as he works on The Manhattan Project, which led to the development of the world’s first nuclear bomb. As of writing, Oppenheimer has grossed over $900million at the global box office and recently overtook Bohemian Rhapsody to become the highest-grossing biographical movie of all time.
Speaking about its monumental success, Dune director Villeneuve declared that he knew Oppenheimer was a “masterpiece” following his first viewing of the film. “Where it is right now has blown the roof off of my projection. It’s a three-hour movie about people talking about nuclear physics,” he admitted to the AP.
The report states that $179m of Oppenheimer’s revenue has resulted from IMAX, which Villeneuve labelled as “the future of cinema”. He explained: “The future of cinema is IMAX and the large formats. The audience wants to see something that they cannot have at home, that they cannot have on streaming. They want to experience an event.”
Villeneuve added: “There’s this notion that movies, in some people’s minds, became content instead of an art form. I hate that word, ‘content’. That movies like Oppenheimer are released on the big screen and become an event brings back a spotlight on the idea that it’s a tremendous art form that needs to be experienced in theatres.”
Meanwhile, Anderson told the same publication: “Domestically, the 25 IMAX 70mm screens [for Oppenheimer] have grossed some $20m; standard 70mm locations accounted for over $14m.”
“When a filmmaker as strong as Chris is pointing a finger at you and telling you where to go… you listen…and audiences have been rewarded for it,” Anderson continued. “I know some film buffs who drove from El Paso to Dallas to see the film properly. That’s about 18 hours round trip.”
Anderson concluded by saying the success of Oppenheimer is proof of “nature’s way of healing”, adding: “I don’t think there’s anyone who could disagree — seeing Oppenheimer on film is superior in every single way. Not to mention, people are tired of asking, ‘Why would I go to a movie theatre to watch TV?’ Good question… you don’t have to anymore… I would call this is nature’s way of healing.”
Watch the trailer for Oppenheimer below.
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