EMILY BLUNT is in talks to star in Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” an upcoming World War II movie from director Christopher Nolan.

Though nothing is official, the casting would reunite Blunt with her “A Quiet Place Part II” co-star Cillian Murphy, who will portray the title role of J. Robert Oppenheimer in the film about the development of the atomic bomb. Blunt is expected to play the wife of Oppenheimer, the American physicist who was pivotal in the Manhattan Project.

Murphy and Nolan have worked together on several films, including “Batman Begins,” “Inception” and “Dunkirk,” though it would be the first collaboration between Nolan and Blunt.

Blunt has a diverse resume, having appeared in “The Devil Wears Prada,” the sci-fi epic “Edge of Tomorrow,” musicals “Into the Woods” and “Mary Poppins Returns” and thrillers “Sicario” and “The Girl on the Train.” She recently starred in Disney’s family adventure “Jungle Cruise,” as well as Paramount’s scary sequel “A Quiet Place Part II.” The follow-up to 2018’s “A Quiet Place” was commercially successful, collecting nearly US$300 million at the global box office despite the pandemic.

Universal Pictures is backing the US$100 million-budgeted “Oppenheimer” after the studio won the rights in a heating bidding war against Paramount, Sony and other major Hollywood players. It marks the first time in nearly two decades that Nolan isn’t making a film with Warner Bros. With the exception of 2014’s “Interstellar” which was filmed for Paramount Pictures and distributed internationally by Warner Bros., all of his recent movies, such as “The Dark Knight,” “Inception” and his latest feature, “Tenet,” were set up at Warner Bros. The filmmaker’s relationship with Warner Bros. grew strained after Nolan criticized the studio’s decision to release its entire 2021 film slate simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters. “Tenet” opened in September 2020 and played exclusively in theaters, ultimately grossing US$58 million in North America and US$363 million globally.

“Oppenheimer” is scheduled to release in theaters July 21, 2023. Nolan will write the screenplay, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Production will begin in early 2022.

(SD-Agencies)