Director Speaks Out After Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon Walk Out of 'Oppenheimer' Premiere

By Maire Clayton July 20, 2023 at 1:45pm

The entire cast of director Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” walked out of the premiere earlier this week due to the ongoing writer and actors’ strike.

Nolan sat down with “TODAY” host Savannah Guthrie Tuesday to discuss the flick and the walkout.

“It was a bittersweet moment,” Nolan recalled.

The actor’s strike began on July 13, falling right in the middle of the U.K. premiere of the film.

Christopher Nolan speaks to TODAY’s @SavannahGuthrie about the moment the Oppenheimer cast walked out of the movie’s premiere and the SAG-AFTRA strike: “It’s an important moment in the industry.” pic.twitter.com/2I5ICgZqNa

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 18, 2023

“We were all there. We were very fortunate,” he continued. “We had the opportunity to somewhat celebrate the film and the actors were all there to support, but then when the time came [they] had to down tools and go off in support of all of their fellow actors and then support the writers as well.”

The star-studded cast includes Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Florence Pugh.

Nolan was obviously disappointed, but understood the reason behind it.

“It’s an important moment in the industry,” he said.

Was it unprofessional for the cast to walk out of the premiere?

“The business models have been rewritten by the companies we work for, and it’s time to rewrite the deals,” Nolan added. “Hopefully, with everybody unified, that can happen quickly as possible.”

The writer’s strike originally began in May, causing some shows to halt and networks to pivot toward reality shows and reruns to fill the gaps.

The strike centers around both groups wanting higher residuals for streaming services and protection with regard to the rise in artificial intelligence to preserve their jobs.

The last time both actors and writers were on strike was in 1960, when Ronald Reagan was still an actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, The New York Times reported.

In addition to commenting on the strike, Nolan told Guthrie he wanted to limit the use of computer-generated images for the film.

“We wanted imagery that has beauty but threat to it,” he said. “That, I think, gives the imagery the bite it needs.”

“Oppenheimer” tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in the development of the atomic bomb.

The film hits theaters Friday.

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