Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie Join Christopher Nolan’s Epic ‘Oppenheimer’

Christopher Nolan is adding more star power to his World War II drama “Oppenheimer.”Oscar winner Rami Malek, Oscar nominee Florence Pugh and “Uncut Gems” director Benny Safdie have joined an ensemble that already includes Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt.The film, with its oh-so-commercial-sounding story about the development of the atomic bomb, is an artistic and financial risk for Nolan and Universal Studios.

It carries a $100 million budget, and adult dramas have not fared too well at the box office of late, even those with major stars such as Will Smith’s “King Richard” or Damon’s “The Last Duel.” But Nolan usually has a keen sense of what audiences want, making twisty thrillers like “Inception” into blockbusters and scoring with critics and audiences with another World War II epic, “Dunkirk.” It should probably be noted, however, that “Dunkirk” has a much more uplifting

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