Christopher Nolan's flair for creating enthralling cinematic experiences is well-documented. His films, which range from The Dark Knight Trilogy to Inception and, most recently, Tenet are always a perfect blend of theatrical flair and engrossing storytelling that has made him a darling of critics and earned him a ton of money at the box office.
With his track record, we do not expect his upcoming biopic Oppenheimer to be anything less than epic and satisfying. Perhaps that is why his decision to use real explosives for the film about the development of the world's first atomic bomb doesn't shock us.
Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy, will tell the stories of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped develop the atomic bomb. Nolan opened up about his approach to that film in a recent interview with Empire Magazine.
A pivotal part of Oppenheimer's journey was the Trinity test – an event that changed the course of history forever. The Trinity test was the first demonstration of the might of the atomic bomb.
To fulfill Nolan's desire to "feel the danger, feel the threat of all this somehow" and ensure that audiences relive Oppenheimer's experiences, he gave his visual effects supervisor a challenge. He told them, "Let's do all these things, but without any computer graphics."