Director Christopher Nolan‘s summer blockbuster, “Oppenheimer,” was released Friday in the U.S. and other countries, but there’s one nation where you won’t see it … and that appears to be on purpose.
Japan has not yet announced a release date for the film, which is about the creation of the nuclear bomb in the United States, culminating in a successful test of the doomsday weapon in July 1945.
Weeks later, America dropped 2 nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, putting an end to World War II. The Japanese cities were completely obliterated with roughly 200,000 people killed and next month marks the 78th anniversary of the bombings.
So, it’s no coincidence Japan has put the movie on the back burner … for now. Keep in mind, though, Japan has a history of postponing new Hollywood film releases for weeks or even months to assess their popularity and value within the market.
But, some have already speculated the tragic historical events are what’s really at play here, and Japanese audiences might be sensitive to some of the film’s content.
We’ll just have to see how this drama hashes out. Stay tuned.