‘Oppenheimer’: Matthew Modine Joins Christopher Nolan’s Film For Universal

EXCLUSIVE: Matthew Modine (Stranger Things, The Dark Knight Rises) is the latest addition to the cast of Christopher Nolan’s anticipated film Oppenheimer for Universal Pictures.

He joins an ensemble led by Cillian Murphy which will also feature Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan and Jack Quaid, as previously announced.

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In Nolan’s latest, which is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, Murphy will play the theoretical physicist of the same name, whose work on the Manhattan Project led to the invention of the atomic bomb. Details with regard to the character Modine is playing have not been disclosed.

Nolan is directing from his own script, with production taking place in New Mexico. He is also producing with Emma Thomas and Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven. The film is slated to debut in theaters on July 21, 2023—a slot saved for Nolan’s films in the past, which is also around two weeks ahead of the anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima.

Modine is a Golden Globe and SAG Award winner who has also been honored over the course of his career with the Venice Film Festival’s prize for Best Actor and its Special Volpi Cup, along with nominations at the Emmys and the Independent Spirit Awards. He’s best known for iconic roles including Private Joker in Full Metal Jacket, the title character in Alan Parker’s post-Vietnam War drama Birdy, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest, the oversexed Sullivan Groff on Showtime’s Weeds, and the mysterious and frightening Dr. Martin Brenner on Netflix’s global phenomenon Stranger Things.

The actor has recently starred in the upcoming thriller Retribution, opposite Liam Neeson; the multiple award-winning feature Foster Boy with Shane Paul McGhie and Louis Gossett Jr., exec produced by Shaquille O’Neal; Miss Virginia opposite Uzo Aduba; horror-thriller Wrong Turn; the Netflix Original feature film, Operation: Varsity Blues directed by Chris Smith; and the anticipated fourth season of Stranger Things, which reunites him with co-star Millie Bobby Brown.

He has also appeared in such films as Breaking News in Yuba County, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, 47 Meters Down, Jobs, The Dark Knight Rises, Any Given Sunday, Notting Hill and Short Cuts, along with series including Sanctuary and Proof.

Modine is represented by Jason Weinberg and Jillian Neal at Untitled Entertainment and attorney Eric Brooks at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.

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