While Barbie smashed numbers at the box office this summer, it is more of a quintessential blockbuster film whose success was easier to predict with its mass appeal. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer had more of an uphill battle to fight. Although the film has the strength of talented names associated with it, as well as the IMAX format being boasted as the definitive way to see the film, the nature of the movie isn’t something often seen in modern-day cinemas — Oppenheimer is an R-rated, three-hour, dialogue-heavy, politically-charged character drama with no action sequences that is released right in the heart of summer.
The film ran away with high accolades, including many calling it Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece. Variety reports on two of cinema’s esteemed filmmakers glowing about the film. Denis Villeneuve, the director of the upcoming highly anticipated Dune Part 2, was recently interviewed by the Associated Press, where he says Oppenheimer is a “masterpiece.” He added that he never thought the movie would ever gross nearly a billion dollars like it has. “Where it is right now has blown the roof off of my projection. It’s a three-hour movie about people talking about nuclear physics.” He continued, “There’s this notion that movies, in some people’s minds, became content instead of an art form. I hate that word, ‘content.’ That movies like Oppenheimer are released on the big screen and become an event brings back a spotlight on the idea that it’s a tremendous art form that needs to be experienced in theaters.”
Director Paul Thomas Anderson would join the praise as both directors felt Oppenheimer was a strong argument for seeing films in theaters as opposed to streaming, thanks to Nolan’s IMAX push. “When a filmmaker as strong as Chris is pointing a finger at you and telling you where to go… you listen…and audiences have been rewarded for it. I know some film buffs who drove from El Paso to Dallas to see the film properly. That’s about 18 hours round trip.” The Magnolia director added, “I don’t think there’s anyone who could disagree — seeing Oppenheimer on film is superior in every single way. Not to mention, people are tired of asking, ‘Why would I go to a movie theater to watch TV?’ Good question… you don’t have to anymore… I would call this is nature’s way of healing.”