Photo: Courtesy of Oppenheimer   Hollywood luminary Christopher Nolan set hearts racing at the premiere of his blockbuster Oppenheimer, held at Beijing's Universal Studios on Tuesday, as he became the first prominent figure from the Hollywood film industry to visit Hollywood's largest overseas market, the Chinese mainland, after the pandemic.

In a video clip circulating on Weibo, fans were captured clutching posters featuring Nolan's directorial works like Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet, while Nolan engaged with his fans by signing autographs for them.

The premiere ignited discussions on social media, with the hashtag #OppenheimerPremiere swiftly gaining momentum on Weibo. As of Tuesday afternoon, the hashtag had garnered 20 million views.

Many Weibo users flocked to the platform to voice their enthusiasm for Nolan's presence and their expectations for Oppenheimer. 

The film's premiere coincides with China's traditional Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine's Day. Nolan's previous visit to China was six years prior, during the promotional tour for his movie Dunkirk.

Many enthusiastic moviegoers participated in the event. One who attended the premiere wrote on Weibo, "Nolan made sure to interact with nearly every fan, tirelessly signing autographs for us." 

Oppenheimer has garnered more than $700 million at the global box office, becoming the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year, according to a report by variety.com. The movie is set to be released on the Chinese mainland on August 30, and has topped the "must watch" list on Maoyan, a popular Chinese movie ticketing platform.

Adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Oppenheimer unveils the US physicist's pivotal role in the Manhattan Project, which crafted the atomic bomb employed against Japan during World War II's closing stages. 

The movie features a constellation of stars, with Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as Katherine Kitty Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as Gen. Leslie Groves and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss.

Global Times