Oppenheimer movie (2023) Synopsis
After leaving audiences arguing about TENET for 3 years, Christopher Nolan came back with his new biopic drama about the story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who developed the first atomic bomb.
Led by Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer for his first leading role in Nolan’s films, followed by numerous big names almost half of Hollywood (the other half are with Barbie of course) including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and more!
The movie is based on a true story but how Christopher Nolan captured the location for those real events from the history. Is this movie filmed in any real locations in history? Or anything has been made or built up specifically for the movie? Let’s jump in and find out where Oppenheimer was filmed.
Oppenheimer movie (2023) Filming Locations
Los Alamos
The majority of the actual event happened in Los Alamos, but the area nowadays has been improved and replaced with modern buildings. Christopher Nolan did consider filming in the real Los Alamos but the current location no longer matches the Los Alamos of the Manhattan Project.
However, part of the movie was filmed in the real Los Alamos, to be specific most of the interior scenes of the movie. And they have to build exteriors for their Los Alamos at Ghost Ranch, a 21,000-acre retreat in Northern New Mexico. This approach allowed Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt to shoot scenes in the very home where the Oppenheimer had lived which we will cover later.
Belen
The team had permission to film at White Sands Proving Ground, the very place where the Trinity test was conducted. But the location remains an active military base, and the production couldn’t afford to go dark for six-to-eight hours each day.
Instead, they built his version of the Trinity test site whose signature feature was a 100-foot steel tower and the far-away bunker where Oppenheimer watched the detonation, in the city called Belen in New Mexico.
Oppenheimer House
One of the real locations that were used for the movie in Los Alamos is the real Oppenheimer House, the house where the real Oppenheimer lived with his wife Kitty, daughter Toni, and son Peter lived in this home from 1943-1945.
The house was built in 1929 and served as the Los Alamos Ranch School before the Manhattan Project took over.
University of California, Berkeley (UC)
Before he was appointed to head the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer had a career as a professor at the University of Cambridge in Berkley between 1929 and 1943.
The location that the team used was redesigned to match the time in which the real event took place and making it another main location for the movie.
Edwards Stadium
Not far from the University of California, Southwest corner of the campus. Edwards Stadium was used as one of the filming locations for Oppenheimer too.
There’s a shot that appeared in the trailer of the movie showing a great view of Edwards Stadium, a stadium located at Fulton Street.
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
the University of California Los Angeles campus where Oppenheimer once taught and is the location where he met Jean Tatlock, Florence Pugh’s character who is also a physics professor that becomes Oppenheimer’s love interest.
In an attempt to portray this story as authentically as possible, Christopher Nolan chose to film Oppenheimer and Jean Tatlock scenes on a real campus in Los Angeles.
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
Also located in Los Angeles, the Millennium Biltmore Hotel is a historic hotel that opened in 1923 and is located opposite Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles, California.
Both Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon were spotted filming in the location. Also, Emily Blunt appeared to be on the location during the filming too. However, the scene of the hotel was also shown in the trailer of the movie.
Institute for Advanced Study
Christopher Nolan shot these scenes at Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where Oppenheimer and Einstein worked together after World War II.
Oppenheimer’s old office had been remodeled and looked too modern. But Einstein’s old office has been preserved, and the production was given permission to use it and redress it to create Oppenheimer’s office.
Oppenheimer Movie (2023) Wrap-Up
Whatever Barbenheimer viral that is going on, we can see the difference between these two movies as one is mostly filmed in the studios and the other is mostly filmed in a real location, which I assumed it’ll give the audience a more authentic feeling. However, I’m going to double-feature them anyway.
As we can see from the lists, Christopher Nolan is arguably one of the most ambitious directors in Hollywood today. Not to mention all the techniques he used to tell his story through movies and also his passion for IMAX.
This is the first biopic movie from Christopher Nolan and I’m pretty excited to see the result. As he is a great director with great ambition, he did a pretty good job picking those locations to tell this story of Oppenheimer.
If you find this article interesting, be sure to check out our website for other content about filming locations for movies and series. Also, don’t forget to check out Oppenheimer, it’s already in the theatre this week!
