Will Oppenheimer Be Banned in Japan?
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Christopher Nolan’s new historical biopic Oppenheimer is set to have its explosive theatrical debut on July 19 in the Philippines, but a possible ban in Japan may put a dent in its box office numbers.
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The upcoming film centers on J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the head physicists of the Manhattan Project, the United States’ research and development effort that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II. It stars Cillian Murphy in the lead role, accompanied by an A-list ensemble cast, including Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, and Florence Pugh.
As Oppenheimer opens around the world, it is yet to receive a release date in Japan. It’s raised a few eyebrows in the studio business as Japan is one of the biggest movie-going markets in the world. But while it hasn’t announced a release date yet, Oppenheimer still hasn’t been officially banned in Japan.
Given the magnitude of devastation that Japan experienced during the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings back in 1945, it’s no surprise that its movie board is hesitant to show a movie that tells the story of the man who invented the bombs that killed thousands of its people. However, it should be noted that Japanese cinema has never shied away from showing foreign WWII movies. But all of this remains speculation at the moment.
The only word from the studio so far is a statement from a spokesperson from Universal, saying “plans have not been finalized in all markets.” And if the film does manage to secure a release date, there’s a likelihood that Japanese moviegoers will not show up anyway. Ultimately, the decision will come from Toho-Towa, Japan’s biggest distributor of Hollywood movies in the country.
With Oppenheimer, Nolan outdid himself in terms of practical effects for this three-hour-long feature. Instead of using CGI like much of Hollywood productions these days, the director recreated the first atomic detonation test by coming up with “real-world methodologies for producing the effect of the first atomic blast.”
Surely, this is no news to Christopher Nolan fans; he previously blew up a real Boeing 747 for Tenet (2020), flipped a truck for The Dark Knight (2008), and shot on top of a melting glacier for Interstellar (2014). Give a man a multi-million-dollar budget, and he will do wonderful things, indeed.
Nolan is nothing if not ambitious (or completely unhinged) in his filmmaking.
Oppenheimer is now showing in cinemas nationwide.
