Oppenheimer And The Cult Of The Brainy Blockbuster

As Christopher Nolan's historical biopic storms the box office, Geoffrey Macnab recalls films that found commercial success while still challenging their audiences intellectually

- Geoffrey Macnab

Cillian Murphy, star of current box office hit Oppenheimer, recently explained how he had known all along that Christopher Nolan’s cerebral new feature would connect with audiences. “It is, thematically, so huge. All the questions it poses, these huge ethical, moral paradoxes. It’s kind of massive…” the actor told host Marc Maron on the WTF podcast. “I love the way he [Nolan] presupposes a level of intelligence in the audience. He knows the audiences aren’t dummies and he knows the audience can keep up. He knows the audience wants to be provoked and challenged.”

Indeed, Oppenheimer makes heavy demands on viewers. It is a biopic of the theoretical physicist who led the US efforts in building the first atomic bomb. Shot in 70mm, the film features spectacular and disturbing sequences of nuclear blasts, but any action is contained within 10 minutes of its three-hour runtime. Much of the drama instead involves scientists, politicians and military personnel in labs, offices and courtrooms, talking and talking. This, then, is not Iron Man or Star Wars – yet Oppenheimer has made over $200m globally in ticket sales during the first four days of release, a staggering figure rarely achieved outside franchise epics and Marvel movies.