Emily Blunt To Join Christopher Nolan’s New Movie
While there haven’t been a lot of casting announcements for Oppenheimer — visionary director Christopher Nolan’s next film — what we’ve heard so far sounds promising. Cillian Murphy is confirmed to be playing the titular lead of the film, and now reports name Emily Blunt as the next actor to join the cast. She will reportedly play Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, the real life wife of the movie’s subject.
The new report comes from Deadline, who points out that 2021 has proven to be a banner year for Emily Blunt. While yes, it does seem like movies traditionally expected to do well like No Time to Die and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings are finally pulling themselves out of the pandemic’s clutches, those successes are still few and far between. In the meantime, Blunt has starred in not one but two of the year’s most financially successful films — the horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II and the Disney fantasy adventure Jungle Cruise. It’s a sure bet Nolan isn’t the only director looking to get Blunt in his film.
Cillian Murphy’s casting opposite Emily Blunt was confirmed only a couple of weeks ago. His involvement in Oppenheimer was rumored early on, though that wasn’t much of a stretch considering he’s been in most of Nolan’s features ever since first playing Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow, in 2005’s Batman Begins. Deadline’s newest story says that — while only Murphy and Blunt have been reported so far (and Blunt isn’t even confirmed) — an “all-star ensemble” is expected to appear in Oppenheimer. Again, this will probably prove true and isn’t much of a prediction. Most Nolan features are all-star ensembles. The guy hired Ken Watanabe — fresh from his Oscar nomination for 2003’s The Last Samurai — for Batman Begins just so he could hide Liam Neeson in plain sight as the film’s true villain.
One potential massive disappointment about Oppenheimer‘s casting may have recently been avoided. We’re speaking, of course, about veteran actor Michael Caine who has appeared in even more Christopher Nolan films than Cillian Murphy — all the Dark Knight films, Inception, Dunkirk, The Prestige, Interstellar, and Tenet. Yet for a few days it looked like Caine wouldn’t join Emily Blunt and fellow Nolan regular Murphy for Oppenheimer. Caine told Simon Mayo of the Kermode & Mayo’s Film Reviews podcast that his dramedy Best Sellers would be his final film; crediting spinal issues and his advanced age as the main reasons for his retirement.
But while we still have yet to hear of Caine being cast in Oppenheimer alongside Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy, the actor apparently has changed his tune about retirement. However, this past weekend in a statement to TheWrap, Caine said retirement is not happening, adding “I’ve spent over 50 years getting up at 6:00 AM to make movies, and I’m not getting rid of my alarm clock!” We’re sure among the many scientists and soldiers sure to appear in Oppenheimer, Nolan will find a part for Caine.
The historical thriller Oppenheimer is scheduled to release in theaters July 21, 2023. Cillian Murphy will star in the leading role as J. Robert Oppenheimer: a theoretical physicist and the director of the Manhattan Project which produced the first successful detonation of a nuclear device in the history of the world. Emily Blunt is reportedly in talks to star as Oppenheimer’s wife Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer. The film will be directed and written by Christopher Nolan, based on the 2006 book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
