Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer achieves record-breaking running time (report)

Christopher Nolans Oppenheimer will reportedly be a record-breaker for the director, who has directed a number of feature-length films over the years.

The acclaimed director will return to theaters soon after the pandemic has passed Oppenheimer – a biopic about the Manhattan Project and the life of Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), known to many as the father of the atomic bomb.

The first trailer for the July release recently debuted ahead of IMAX screenings of Avatar: The Way of Watershowcases its stacked cast of all-star actors.

Oppenheimer Runtime revealed

According to the latest What I’m Hearing newsletter from Puck’s Matt Belloni, Christopher Nolan’s next film Oppenheimer will break the director’s record for his longest film to date.

This record was previously held from 2014 Interstellar at a shocking 169 minutes (2 hours, 49 minutes). But Nolan’s new nuclear blockbuster will reportedly surpass it, hitting around the three-hour mark.

However, it should be pointed out Oppenheimer doesn’t appear to be locked yet, so this three-hour runtime can easily go up or down pending last-minute adjustments by Nolan and co.

A full list of Nolan’s widely differing film runtimes to date can be seen below:

After – 70 minutes
Memory – 113 minutes
Insomnia – 118 minutes
Batman begins – 140 minutes
The Prestige – 130 minutes
The Dark Knight – 152 minutes
Establishment – 148 minutes
The Dark Knight Rises – 165 minutes
Interstellar – 169 minutes
Dunkirk – 106 minutes
Principle – 150 minutes

Nolan will need the extra time on this breakout to explore his stacked cast, which includes Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek and countless other Hollywood stars.

Why Oppenheimer has to be 3 hours

In terms of why Oppenheimer is so long, Nolan has already stated that the film will span 45 years, and with such a large cast on board the director has plenty to explore this time, which clearly justifies a three-hour runtime.

Audiences have become increasingly interested in running times in recent years, both in film and television. In general, the consensus seems to be that longer films and episodes are preferable.

But at the same time director James Cameron recently had to defend the long running time of Avatar: The Way of Waterand points out that audiences like to watch eight hours of television but complain that a film even lasts three hours.

On the other hand, complaints about films that are too long tend to be aimed more at families with audiences likely to watch children with short attention spans, but that’s probably not the case Oppenheimer.

Nolan’s nuclear thriller has yet to receive an age rating, but given the intense subject matter, this probably won’t be one aimed at younger audiences, at least not for the most part.

Oppenheimer hits theaters on July 21, 2023.