Something Surprised Christopher Nolan When He Snuck Into A Screening Of Oppenheimer

It's typical for filmmakers to attend the glitzy premieres of their well-financed blockbuster movies, but it takes a certain kind of masochist to watch their movies in a theater with a ticket-buying public. Despite a filmmaker's best intentions, they will never be able to predict how the hoi polloi might respond to their work. Certain moments intended to be heady and serious could very well elicit titters, while laugh lines could land with a thud. Once a film is released, it's out of the director's hands. 

But then, sometimes things work perfectly. As Nolan discovered when he snuck into the back of a New York theater to watch his hit film "Oppenheimer" unspool in front of a sold-out house. 

As of this writing, Nolan's "Oppenheimer" has earned nearly $950 million worldwide, making it the sixth-highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (behind "The Passion of the Christ," "Deadpool," "American Sniper," "Joker," and "It"). Despite being a heady, 3-hour tragedy that picks at the very foundation of American wartime patriotism, as well as an analysis of the deep immorality of wartime weapons, audiences flocked to the film in droves. Its close association with Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" certainly helped it along, as many made the two films a deliberately polarized double feature. 

In a recent interview with Variety, Nolan recalled his curiosity as to how "Oppenheimer" was being received. Perhaps he, like so many of us, wondered if "Oppenheimer" was legitimately beloved, or if it merely survived on its camp associations with "Barbie." 

According to the Variety article, Nolan went to the AMC Lincoln Square 13 Theater in New York for his experiment. He took his wife and three of his children along to engage in the experiment with him. Nolan's wife, Emma Thomas, also produced "Oppenheimer," so she too was curious as to what audience reactions might be. "I usually don't want to go," she said, "but the minute I'm there, something magic happens." It's just as Nicole Kidman has been telling us for the last two years: we come to this place for magic. 

Nolan recalled the scene in "Oppenheimer," about halfway through the film, when the title character and his team of scientists are about to detonate an atomic bomb for the first time. Up until that point, the film has traced the career of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and his determination to create a bomb so powerful that its very existence would terrify the world into pacifism. The scene in question includes a lengthy countdown and depicts dozens of characters preparing for the dramatic moment of witnessing an atomic explosion for the first time. 

Nolan sensed the crowd getting quiet. They, too, were rapt, waiting for the bomb to detonate. It was, in his view, extraordinary. Nolan said: 

"It was a remarkable experience to be there. [...] Every seat was filled, and the focus on what was happening on-screen was so strong. That level of engagement was something that I'd never really felt before. Real attention was being paid." 

The IMAX house at the Lincoln Square 13 has 476 seats, which is a lot for a screen of that size. Nolan managed to hold the room's attention. Clearly, he had done something right.