Christopher Nolan's film about J Robert Oppenheimer, who is considered one of the fathers of the atom bomb, has been picked up by Universal Pictures. Leading Studios like Sony, Paramount, and MGM were also in talks for the project before Universal acquired the rights to finance and distribute it.

This ends Nolan's near two-decade-long association with Warner Bros. They first collaborated for Insomnia in 2002 and later worked together in the Batman trilogy, Inception, Dunkirk, and Tenet. Warner Bros also distributed The Prestige and Interstellar.

Last year, Nolan had a fallout with Warner Bros after the Studio's decision to move its 2021 slate to a day-and-date theatrical and HBO Max streaming release. Later, in a statement, the director referred to HBO Max as “the worst streaming service”.

The new film is based on J Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb during World War II. Scripted by Nolan himself, the film will reportedly delve on Oppenheimer's work on the bomb on Manhattan project, including his role in the Trinity test in New Mexico, where the bomb was successfully detonated. 

Nolan's frequent collaborator Cillian Murphy is speculated to be a part of the ensemble but the casting is yet to be confirmed. The project is believed to have a budget of around $100 million and shoot is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022.