Cillian Murphy's first image as J Robert Oppenheimer, the 'father of the atomic bomb,' has been unveiled as Kenneth Branagh joins the cast of Christopher Nolan's next drama.

Oppenheimer reteams Murphy with writer-director Nolan, with whom he previously collaborated in Dunkirk, Inception, and The Dark Knight Trilogy. Branagh also appeared in Dunkirk and Nolan's most recent picture, Tenet.

Oppenheimer, starring Murphy as the theoretical physicist, is based on Kai Bird and the late Martin J Sherwin's Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer also stars Emily Blunt, who co-starred in Murphy's A Quiet Place Part II, alongside Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Josh Hartnett, Rami Malek, and Florence Pugh.

The film is now under production, including New Mexico, California, and New Jersey.

Oppenheimer is scheduled to be released on 21 July 2023, fewer than three weeks before the anniversary of Hiroshima's (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki's atomic blasts (9 August 1945).

Murphy returns to television screens this weekend in the last season of Peaky Blinders, which premieres on BBC One at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, 27 February.