Cillian Murphy, star of Oppenheimer, recently discussed the fast-paced shooting process of the film. Murphy, who has collaborated with director Christopher Nolan on six previous films, including The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception, takes on the biggest lead role of his career in Oppenheimer. The movie, known for its groundbreaking achievements like being the first black-and-white IMAX film and recreating the Trinity nuclear test without CGI, was shot in just 57 days. Murphy, who appears in nearly every scene as the titular theoretical physicist, described the shooting schedule as "insane." Here are his full comments:

Why Oppenheimer Was Shot On A Short Schedule

We completed the movie astonishingly fast, wrapping it up within a mere 57 days. The pace at which we worked was absolutely mind-boggling. Despite the film sets being grand in scale, the overall experience felt like an independent production. It was just Chris, the cameraman, and myself - utilizing only one camera at all times, unless it called for an immense set piece. We didn't have a video village or monitors; it was a minimalist approach. Chris truly embodies the essence of a traditional filmmaker.

Oppenheimer, despite its length and Christopher Nolan's directing style, was shot in a surprisingly short span of under two months. In comparison, Nolan's previous World War II film, Dunkirk, took 68 days to film and had a runtime of only 1 hour and 47 minutes, which is relatively shorter among his works. Similarly, his ambitious spy movie, Tenet, was shot in 96 days and had a runtime of 2 hours and 30 minutes, both of which fall significantly shorter than Oppenheimer's extensive 3-hour duration, marking it as Nolan's lengthiest film to date.

Oppenheimer, being a traditional biopic, lacks the action-packed sequences seen in films like Dunkirk or Tenet. This is likely why it was completed within a relatively short period of 57 days, despite its lengthy runtime. The limited shooting schedule may have also been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Alternatively, it could have been a deliberate decision by Nolan to mirror the rapid pace of the Manhattan Project, which rushed to develop the first atomic bomb ahead of the Nazis.