‘Oppenheimer’ Director Christopher Nolan Claims The Movie Has ‘Zero’ CGI Scenes

As the highly-anticipated shared release date for Oppenheimer and Barbie approaches, more details have emerged regarding the movies. There seems to be no slowing down to the latter’s promotions, with the iconic Malibu DreamHouse even up for rent on Airbnb.

In a recent interview with Collider Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub, director Christopher Nolan—the brain behind the forthcoming Oppenheimer—has claimed that the film will comprise “zero” CGI shots.

Well, considering the movie centers around the invention of the atomic bomb and will probably contain multiple explosions, this may seem a little difficult to believe. Though Nolan is famed for his use of practical effects, could all the action scenes really be created without the help of CGI?

According to a previous interview with Nolan, the production team was able to recreate the Trinity Test—the first explosion of the nuclear bomb in the desert of New Mexico—entirely without the help of computer graphics. 

As challenging as that sounds, this is coming from a team that created a new form of technology to capture the film’s black-and-white scenes in IMAX. So, maybe the no-CGI claim could indeed be true?

Perhaps, as FandomWire noted, the truth could be closer to how the mind-bending scenes in Inception were created. Rather than relying entirely on generated graphics, Nolan blended practical effects with CGI to create a realistic landscape.

Despite how much truth the director’s words may or may not hold, it certainly adds excitement to one of the most hyped films of the year. Check out the trailer and find out for yourself when the movie premieres on July 21, 2023.

[via Collider and FandomWire, cover image via Universal Pictures]