'Oppenheimer' Trailer Sees U.S. On Brink of Nuclear War

"This is a national emergency," says Cillian Murphy in the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan's upcoming epic Oppenheimer, which dropped today. "We're in a race against the Nazis. And I know what it means if the Nazis have a bomb."

Murphy stars as the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist credited with the invention of the atomic bomb during World War II. Although the real Oppenheimer would later go on to regret his role and spent the rest of his life advocating against his creation, the film is set during the Manhattan Project, the research and development program that was ultimately responsible for producing the first nuclear weapons.

In addition to Murphy, the star-studded cast features Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, and Kenneth Branagh.

"Are we saying there's a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world?" Damon's skeptical Lieutenant General Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project, asks Murphy's Oppenheimer midway through the trailer. "Near zero," the physicist guesses, to which Damon's character responds: "Zero would be nice."

In other words, not exactly your typical breezy summer movie fare, as Oppenheimer hits theaters on July 21, 2023. The film, which clocks in at two hours and 30 minutes, has been named one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year. It remains to be seen how its box office returns will fare against the upcoming Barbie movie from director Greta Gerwig, which opens on the same day.