Oliver Stone Turned Down an Oppenheimer Movie, Calls Christopher Nolan’s Film a ‘Classic’ He ‘Never Believed Could Be Made in This Climate’

Many reviews for Christopher Nolans Oppenheimer noted that the film felt like the directors own version of Oliver Stones sprawling historical epic JFK, and now Stone himself has weighed in on Nolans latest achievement. The Platoon Oscar winner took to social media to deem Nolans Oppenheimer a new film classic, while also revealing he flirted with making his own film in the past about theoretical physicist and father of the atomic bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer.

I sat through 3 hours of Oppenheimer, gripped by Chris Nolans narrative, Stone wrote. His screenplay is layered and fascinating. Familiar with the book by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, I once turned the project down because I couldnt find my way to its essence. Nolan has found it.

His direction is mind-boggling and eye-popping as he takes reams of incident and cycles it into an exciting torrent of action inside all the talk, Stone continued. Each actor is a surprise to me, especially Cillian Murphy, whose exaggerated eyes here feel normal playing a genius like Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer is a classic, which I never believed could be made in this climate, Stone concluded. Bravo.

Stone is far from the only prolific director to publicly praise Nolans epic. Before Oppenheimer released in theaters, Paul Schrader posted a rave reaction on social media. The Taxi Driver writer called Nolans film the best, most important film of this century.

If you see one film in cinemas this year it should be Oppenheimer, Schrader added. Im not a Nolan groupie but this one blows the door off the hinges.

Oppenheimer has since become a box office blockbuster despite its three-hour runtime and R rating. The film has already surpassed $400 million at the worldwide box office in under two weeks of release. Its now playing nationwide courtesy of Universal Pictures.

His direction is mind-boggling eye-popping as he takes reams of incident and cycles it into an exciting torrent of action inside all the talk. Each actor is a surprise to me, especially Cillian Murphy, whose exaggerated eyes here feel normal playing a genius like #Oppenheimer. pic.twitter.com/GwXqUq1V7j

Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone) August 1, 2023