"The pace was insane": Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy reveals how quickly Nolan's 3-hour epic was filmed

Oppenheimer is currently gearing up to release in theaters and new updates about the film are constantly making their way online. While Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan's longest movie, it was surprisingly filmed in a very short period of time. Nolan has always been vocal about practical filmmaking, and he incorporated the same in his upcoming period piece as well.

However, the most surprising fact about the film was recently revealed by the lead actor, Cillian Murphy. He claimed that the film completed its principal photography in less than two months. During his appearance on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast, Murphy said:

“We made the movie unbelievably quickly. We made it in 57 days. The pace of that was insane.”

This is what sets the film apart from other big-budget movies of the same scale and magnitude, which usually take about three to four months to finish their principal photography. Nolan was able to complete the filming of his $180 million movie in 57 days.

---

"He's a very analog filmmaker" - Cillian Murphy reveals how Christopher Nolan shot Oppenheimer so quickly

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer (Image via Universal)

Considering that this wasn't Nolan's usual action film, it didn't always require large crews and multiple cameramen. On the podcast, Cillian Murphy further described how Nolan was able to pull off a relatively impossible task within 57 days and still deliver a three-hour-long movie.

“The sets are huge, but it feels like being on an independent movie. There’s just Chris and the cameraman — one camera always, unless there’s some huge, huge set piece — and the boom op and that’s it. There’s no video village, there’s no monitors, nothing. He’s a very analog filmmaker,” he said.

Christopher Nolan on Tenet (Image via Warner Bros.)

Previously, Nolan filmed a World War II film, Dunkirk in 68 days and the movie was just 1 hour and 47 minutes long. Following that, his sci-fi feature Tenet took 96 days to be shot and was 2 hours and 30 minutes.

But now, he has managed to complete a 3-hour and 49-second-long movie in 57 days. This is partly because it is a biopic that doesn't require time-consuming action sequences.

---

Murphy believes Christopher Nolan is the "perfect director"

Cillian Murphy talks about Christopher Nolan (Image via Sportskeeda)

Not all of Nolan's movies have taken more than 57 days to film, but most of his big-budget projects have had longer schedules. Considering his pace, Cillian Murphy further described why Nolan is the "perfect director" during his time on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast.

“He’s got all the facets: he’s amazing with actors, he’s incredibly brilliant visually, he writes the things himself, and they’re made for the theaters, they’re event movies. But they challenge you,” he said.

Having worked with the director on six movies so far, Murphy understands his unique ways of handling projects. The duo has worked together on Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight: Rises, Inception, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer is now set to hit theaters on July 21, 2023, and fans are excited to see what the skilled filmmaker brings to the table.