Many fans loved Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, though it did not feel good to sit through three hours with no bathroom breaks. The lengthy runtime of the movie was one of its top criticisms, even the director’s wife was not happy about it.
Oppenheimer emerged as one of the most successful films from last year, bringing a star-studded cast onto the big screen to tell the epic story of the father of the atomic bomb. Such a long history would be difficult to condense in just three hours, but Nolan managed to do it.
Oppenheimer Producer Was Not Thrilled With Movie’s Long Runtime
Emma Thomas, producer for Oppenheimer and wife of Christopher Nolan, spoke with Variety and tackled the most pressing issue about the movie – its lengthy runtime. Like many fans, she also disagreed with the three-hour duration.
“My biggest concern when I read Oppenheimer was how the film was going to come together as a cohesive whole. It’s not a film that’s easy to define; I knew he wanted to shoot a lot of it in black and white, and it was three hours — which I wasn’t really happy about.”
Released in July last year, the film was poised to become a summer blockbuster, competing alongside Margot Robbie’s Barbie. Thomas felt skeptical about its performance knowing it is not the usual type of movie that people go and see in theaters during summertime.
“I knew he wanted to release it in the summer, make it a big summer movie. So when I read the script, my biggest worry was less logistics and more like how are we going to make this a big summer movie?”
She admitted that Oppenheimer could never be any shorter, with all the content and substance of the movie that Nolan tried to encapsulate in three hours. In fact, the director would compare it to Marvel Studios’ Avengers, the longest one running for three hours and two minutes.
“The problem was there was really no way you could cut it down. When you look at that book, there wasn’t any version of this film that wasn’t going to be three hours. When I first started moaning about it, Chris would say, ‘Well, you know… The Avengers.’ ”
Despite the lengthy runtime, Oppenheimer ended up as a box office victory and will soon gain more profit as it gets a rerelease on IMAX this January 12.
Jo Koy Takes A Jab At Oppenheimer At The Golden Globe Awards
While Emma Thomas hated Oppenheimer’s long duration, comedian Jo Koy made fun of it at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards. He opened the event with a monologue, and one of his speeches criticized Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece via Today.
“I loved Oppenheimer. I just got one complaint — needed another hour. Felt like it need some more backstory. My New Year’s resolution for 2024 is to finish Oppenheimer in 2025. I love Oppenheimer, especially the first season.”
While some of Jo Koy’s jokes failed to land at the event, there is definitely a grain of truth in his jab at Oppenheimer.
