Christopher Nolan’s historical biopic Oppenheimer chronicled the life of the man behind the bomb that reshaped the world. Starring Cillian Murphy as the eponymous physicist, Oppenheimer went into great detail about his origin and development of the theory that led to the atomic bomb before delving into its creation.
In the process, Nolan used a star-studded cast to bring the real individuals who were integral to the creation of the bomb to life on screen, including a powerful mix of A-listers and up-and-comers. With so many stars getting screen time, the runtime for Oppenheimer naturally adds up.
Of course, the long runtime never felt that long given how powerful the performances and filmmaking were. Oppenheimer became Nolan’s most-nominated movie with 13 Oscar nominations at the 96th Academy Awards, seven of which turned into wins. Still, its daunting length is curious, given how financially and critically successful it was.
How Long Is Oppenheimer’s Runtime?
Oppenheimer‘s official runtime checks in at 180 minutes, or three hours (and nine seconds, if we’re splitting hairs) on the nose. That puts it on par with jam-packed epics like Avengers: Endgame or The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, and what it lacks in sci-fi or fantasy action it makes up for in powerful dramatic storytelling.
While its non-linear storytelling makes breaking the movies into chunks decidedly difficult, roughly the first third of the runtime is dedicated to Oppenheimer as a young man, and the development of the theory behind the atom bomb. The remainder covers the creation of Los Alamos, the bomb itself, and the fallout from its use for Oppenheimer personally.
The lengthy runtime is accentuated by the fractured narrative and Nolan’s visual style, as the primary storyline surrounding Oppenheimer’s development and creation of the bomb is constantly cut with fragments from Oppenheimer’s post-war security hearing, along with staggering visuals of chemical reactions that act as metaphors for the physicist’s mind in addition to depicting how an atom bomb explosion unfolds.
How Oppenheimer Compares To The Longest Movies Ever
While there are a litany of experimental films that have runtimes measured by days, not hours, even limiting an investigation simply to mainstream theatrical films proves that Oppenheimer‘s three-hour runtime is not overly impressive. In fact, it wasn’t even the longest release in 2023; Martin Scorsese’s historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon clocked in at three hours and 26 minutes.
Oppenheimer comes in well behind Ronald F. Maxwell’s two epic Civil War dramas, which are regarded as two of the longest mainstream theatrical movies. Maxwell’s Gettysburg (1993) came in at four hours and 31 minutes, while its slogging prequel Gods and Generals (2003) measured a whopping four hours and 40 minutes.
Sergio Leone’s iconic epic crime drama Once Upon A Time In America (1984) also cracked the four-hour mark at four hours and 11 minutes, while the beleaguered director’s cut Zack Snyder’s Justice League technically clocked in at four hours and two minutes.
Looking farther back into antiquity, Oppenheimer falls well short of Gone With The Wind (1939) at 3:58, Cleopatra (1963) at 3:53, Lawrence of Arabia (1962) at 3:47, and Cecil B. Demille’s famous biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1956) at 3:40. Oppenheimer was outlasted last year as well by Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, which finished at three hours ad 35 minutes.
How Oppenheimer Compares To Other Christopher Nolan Movies
If you look exclusively at Nolan’s work as opposed to the entirety of cinema, Oppenheimer stands out quite a bit more. While it could certainly change once his upcoming mythical epic, The Odyssey, releases in 2026, Oppenheimer currently stands as the longest film that Christopher Nolan has ever made, but not by much.
2013’s Interstellar flirts with the same theoretical physics concepts at the heart of Oppenheimer, and its runtime flirts with that of the 2023 Oscar-winner. Interstellar clocks in just 11 minutes shy of Oppenheimer at two hours and 49 minutes. Like Oppenheimer, it never drags given its captivating visual style and gripping, time-bending story.
Two of Nolan’s Batman blockbusters check in after Interstellar, with The Dark Knight Rises running to two hours and 44 minutes, while another Oscar winner for Nolan in The Dark Knight comes in at two hours and 32 minutes. The first movie in Nolan’s trilogy, Batman Begins, is a bit shorter still at two hours and 20 minutes.
While Nolan’s films all tend to run on the longer side, he does have a few that are under two hours. His 2002 psychological thriller Insomnia fell just short of the two-hour mark at one hour and 58 minutes, while his other early mind-bending thriller Memento clocks in at one hour and 53 minutes.
Nolan’s shortest film was, unsurprisingly, his first. His feature directorial debut came in 1998 with the neo-noir crime thriller Following. As a true ultra-low-budget indie movie, Following unfolds in just 69 minutes, largely as a result of its $6,000 price tag. The movie was so well-received, however, that it acted as a springboard for the rest of his career.
- Release Date
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July 21, 2023
- Runtime
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150 Minutes
