James Cameron criticizes Nolan's Oppenheimer for skirting bomb aftermath, announces new film Ghosts of Hiroshima

Director James Cameron announced his new project, a movie on the aftermath of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, by the United States of America during the Second World War. The project will be titled Ghosts of Hiroshima. During an interview while talking about the film, the Avatar director criticised Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer for skirting the aftermath of the attacks. Oppenheimer focuses on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, and how he and his team created the deadly weapon. The film won seven awards at the 96th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and grossed over $975 million worldwide.

Cameron criticises Nolan’s Oppenheimer

Speaking about Oppenheimer, Cameron said, “Yeah, it’s interesting what he stayed away from. Look, I love the filmmaking, but I did feel that it was a bit of a moral cop-out. Because it’s not like Oppenheimer didn’t know the effects. He’s got one brief scene in the film where we see, and I don’t like to criticise another filmmaker’s film, but there’s only one brief moment where he sees some charred bodies in the audience, and then the film goes on to show how it deeply moved him. But I felt that it dodged the subject.”

Nolan defends his film

Cameron is not the first to raise this issue about the film, but Nolan had defended his decision by saying that the film was based on Robert Oppenheimer's perspective.

Cameron on Ghosts of Hiroshima

As for Ghosts of Hiroshima, the movie is based on the historical book by Charles Pellegrino and is scheduled to be released on the 80th anniversary of the atomic bomb. Speaking about the project, Cameron said, “‘Avatar’ has taken over my life as a filmmaker and I’m now starting to dig my way through that and figure out a future that embraces not only completing the ‘Avatar’ saga, but also being able to do some of these other projects that are near and dear to me.”