‘Oppenheimer’: Christopher Nolan drama is partially shot in black and white

Christopher Nolan released several new pictures from his much-anticipated project, Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist known for his creation of the atomic bomb.

The exclusive photos reveal first look at the likes of Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr., both of whom will star alongside Murphy in the biopic, which is set to release on July 21, 2023.

The Interstellar director also revealed that the upcoming movie will also feature sequences in color. The use of black-and-white in the trailer and early imager hears back to Nolan’s earliest films such as Memento.

"I very much loved the structural assistance and the aesthetic charge of shifting between color and black and white that I had on Memento,” recalled Nolan in Total Film’s upcoming 2023 Preview issue.

Nolan added, “I’d always been looking for a reason to go back to that. And in the case of Oppenheimer and the way in which we tell this story, it’s very subjectively [told], but also with a more objective story strand that intertwines with that. It was really the perfect time to go back to that device that I loved so much."

"So we challenged the people at Kodak photochem to make this work for us, and they stepped up. For the first time ever, we were able to shoot IMAX film in black-and-white,” he said, adding, “And the results were thrilling and extraordinary. As soon as Hoyte [van Hoytema, Nolan cinematographer since Interstellar] and I saw the first tests come in, we just knew that this was a format that we were immediately in love with.”

Total Film Magazine also posted the brand new pictures from the upcoming movie as a preview for their 2023 cover story.

In the latest released pictures, the Peaky Blinders actor was seen as a distraught-looking J. Robert Oppenheimer - surrounded by men, including the Iron Man star, 57, who plays Lewis Strauss.

One of the pictures shows the Quiet Place actress, who plays Oppenheimer's wife Katherine, clasps Murphy's face. There is also an image of Murphy climbing a structure as well as sitting at a table at some kind of hearing or trial.