‘Oppenheimer’ will show in Japan in 2024 after nuclear controversy

“Oppenheimer,” the blockbuster film about U.S. efforts to develop the world’s first nuclear weapons, is finally coming to theaters in Japan, where it faced fierce public backlash over what critics said was insensitivity toward the only country to have suffered atomic bombings.

Bitters End, the film’s Japanese distributor, said Thursday that “Oppenheimer” would be released in 2024, without specifying a date.

“Because the subject matter of this film is of great importance and has special significance to us Japanese, we decided to release the film in Japan after much discussion and consideration,” it said.

“After viewing the film, we believe that the one-of-a-kind cinematic experience by director Christopher Nolan, which transcends traditional theatrical techniques, deserves to be seen on the big screen.”

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Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" is not just the story about the creation of the atomic bomb; it's also a clash of egos between Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, and government official Lewis Strauss, played by Robert Downey Jr. In an interview taped prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, Access Hollywood guest correspondent Simone Boyce spoke to both actors about their characters' "complex" relationship and what it was like to act together.

Some questioned why the film did not depict Japanese victims of the atomic bombs the United States dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the last days of World War II, or their devastating aftermath. The bombings, which killed an estimated 200,000 people, are widely considered to have hastened Japan’s surrender and the end of the war.

Nolan told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd that the film was “not a documentary” and that it was meant to focus on Oppenheimer’s perspective.