Christopher Nolan Actually Recreated A Nuclear Explosion For ‘Oppenheimer’ Without CGI, And The Jokes Are Flying

When Christopher Nolan announced that he was making Oppenheimer, a biopic on the creator of the atomic bomb, the joke at the time is that the infamously CGI-adverse director would find some sort of way to actually detonate a nuke. Nolan was coming off his latest blockbuster, Tenet, where he famously crashed a real plane for a scene, so what’s a little atom-splitting thrown in the mix

Well, to the surprise of no one, Nolan is now boasting that he found a way to simulate a nuclear blast without using CGI, and on American soil no less. Via Total Film:

“I think recreating the Trinity test [the first nuclear weapon detonation, in New Mexico] without the use of computer graphics, was a huge challenge to take on,” explains Nolan in Total Film(opens in new tab)’s upcoming 2023 Preview issue. “Andrew Jackson – my visual effects supervisor, I got him on board early on – was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, a lot of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there – there were huge practical challenges.”

Total Film also tweeted one of their exclusive images from Nolan’s film.

Read more from Nolan on #Oppenheimer here: https://t.co/3SBg0jOGxt pic.twitter.com/yBgG0ViJm8

— Total Film (@totalfilm) December 12, 2022

Considering New Mexico isn’t a smoking crater, and the fact that Nolan isn’t under arrest for war crimes, obviously, he didn’t use a real nuke. Of course, that didn’t stop a massive explosion of jokes on Twitter.

— Austin Burke (@theBurk3nator) December 12, 2022

Me when I see the atomic fallout kill my family because Nolan didn’t want to use CGI: pic.twitter.com/TM4mIRJ4bc

— big0 (@Giannis2Chicago) December 12, 2022

Everybody on set: pic.twitter.com/3irlfz98pI

— Squaremail (@Squaremail1) December 12, 2022

pic.twitter.com/YUxHiNEutq

— p p่ p้ p๊ p๋ (@onthefuckingrun) December 12, 2022

Christopher Nolan when he blows up an entire town but it looks sick on camera pic.twitter.com/9d5CgoWQmu

— ClarkQuill97 (@CQuill97) December 12, 2022

The cast and crew pic.twitter.com/hTUu92oI4m