Cillian Murphy is the most important man who ever lived in teaser for Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

No pressure on Cillian Murphy but according to the teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan's new movie Oppenheimer, the Peaky Blinders is star is playing "the most important man who ever lived."

That man is J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist whose work with the Manhattan Project during World War II helped developed the weapons which destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

It was announced in October of last year that Nolan had cast the Batman Begins and Inception actor in the lead role of the filmmaker's latest. Oppenheimer is based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, and was described by Universal in an official summary as an "epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it."

Universal Pictures Cillian Murphy in 'Oppenheimer'

Oppenheimer will mark Nolan's first film at Universal after a nearly two-decade relationship with Warner Bros. That relationship soured last year after Nolan publicly criticized the studio for releasing its 2021 films on HBO Max and in theaters at the same time.

"Christopher Nolan and [his producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas' films have shattered the limits of what cinematic storytelling can achieve," Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley said in a statement last year. "We are thrilled to be working alongside them on this exceptional and extraordinary project and are grateful for their shared passion and commitment to the theatrical experience."

Oppenheimer hits theaters July 21, 2023.

Watch the teaser trailer for Oppenheimer below.

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