News 'Oppenheimer' to finally be screened in Japan

Photo credit: Mainichi/Shinichiro Nishida​

On Thursday, the movie's distributor in Japan, Bitters End, said that the film, which examines J Robert Oppenheimer's moral quandary over his key role in the world's first nuclear attack on 6 August 1945, would be released in 2024. In a statement in Japanese media, the firm said it had decided after lengthy discussions that considered the backlash it had sparked in Japan after it went on international release at the same time as the comedy movie Barbie in July. "The film's subject matter is of great importance and holds special meaning for Japanese people, so we decided to release it in Japan after various discussions and considerations," Bitters End said. Social media users blasted online "Barbenheimer" memes conflating Greta Gerwig's comedy with Oppenheimer, a biopic of the physicist behind the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and, three days later, Nagasaki, killing an estimated 200,000 people.

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Oppenheimer to finally be released in Japan after ‘Barbenheimer’ backlash

Internet references conflating the two films drew anger in Japan, which was twice attacked by nuclear weapons during the second world war

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Life in Japan: Challenging the nuclear taboo - The Mainichi

By David McNeill As many Mainichi readers will surely know, the movie

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