Did Christopher Nolan detonate a bomb for Oppenheimer?

As part of the production for his new film “Oppenehimer,” Christopher Nolan revealed to Total Film magazine that he recreated the first nuclear weapon detonation without the use of CGI effects.

Nolan has always preferred practical effects over VFX. He even blew up a real Boeing 747 for “Tenet”, so it’s no surprise that when it came to filming a nuclear weapon explosion, he went the practical route.

“I think recreating the Trinity test which is the first nuclear weapon detonation, in New Mexico without the use of computer graphics was a huge challenge to take on,” Nolan said.

“Andrew Jackson  my visual effects supervisor, I got him on board early on  was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, a lot of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there — there were huge practical challenges.”

#Oppenheimer – Only in Theaters 7 21 23 https://t.co/2FIoTBq3ok

— Oppenheimer (@OppenheimerFilm) July 28, 2022

Nolan went on to describe “Oppenheimer” as a “story of enormous scope and scale,” adding, “It’s one of the most challenging projects I’ve ever taken on in terms of the scale of it, and in terms of encountering the breadth of Oppenheimer’s story.