New Oppenheimer Trinity Test Featurette Highlights Life-Changing Moment

The latest teaser for Oppenheimer showcases Christopher Nolan and his ensemble cast discussing the world changing effect of the Trinity test.

A new Oppenheimer featurette explores the world-altering Trinity test, highlighting its impact on both an individual and global scale.

Rotten Tomatoes Trailers released the Oppenheimer featurette on YouTube, which opens with Cillian Murphy's J. Robert Oppenheimer declaring, "The world will remember this day." Murphy would later comment in the featurette that it was a profoundly overwhelming experience watching the film, saying, "It's not a history lesson. It's not telling people this is what you must learn from this, but I think it's very clear it can reflect back on what is happening in the world today." Christopher Nolan, the movie's director, explains the significance of the Trinity test by noting, "The Trinity test and the revelation of the first atomic explosion to the world was one of the most important moments in the twentieth century... It's an extraordinary moment in human history, and I wanted to take the audience into that room and be there when that button is pushed and really, fully bring the audience to this moment in time."

Emma Thomas, a producer who has collaborated with Nolan many times, is also featured. She talks about the far-reaching scale of the Trinity test. "It was a massive, miraculous project that thousands of people were involved with," the producer said. "It touched government, it touched science, it had huge ramifications for all sorts of ordinary people," she added. The featurette also shows Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Josh Hartnett, Florence Pugh, and Emily Blunt talking about how the Trinity test forever changed humankind. The Trinity test was the world's first nuclear test, and it took place at a United States Air Force base in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945.

Christopher Nolan Sees Similarities Between Oppenheimer's Themes And The Danger of AI

The parallels between Oppenheimer's themes and the present battle to keep AI in check are apparent to Christopher Nolan. "The rise of companies in the last fifteen years, not knowing what they mean in any meaningful, mathematical sense, these guys don't know what an algorithm is," the director said. "People in my business (the film industry) talking about it, they just don't want to take responsibility for what that algorithm does."

Nolan asserted that the current impasse between creatives and producers in Hollywood stems from innovating with technology without prerequisite accountability. Nolan points out that fears regarding AI misuse and the technological fallout were comparable to the J. Robert Oppenheimer Atomic Bomb test.