Hollywood luminary Christopher Nolan set hearts racing at the premiere of his much-anticipated blockbuster Oppenheimer, held at Beijing’s Universal Studios on Tuesday. The event marked a significant milestone as Nolan became the first prominent figure from the Hollywood film industry to visit Hollywood’s largest overseas movie market after the pandemic.
In a video clip circulating on Weibo, passionate fans were captured standing in the heat and clutching posters featuring Nolan’s directorial masterpieces like Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet, alongside his own photos, while Nolan generously engaged with his devoted fans by signing autographs for them one by one.
The premiere’s splendor ignited a social media storm, with the hashtag #Oppenheimer Premiere swiftly gaining momentum on China’s Sina Weibo platform. As of Tuesday afternoon, the hashtag had garnered an impressive 20 million views.
Many Weibo users flocked to the platform to voice their enthusiasm for Nolan’s presence and their lofty 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.
One eyewitness, who was fortunate enough to attend the premiere, wrote on Weibo, “The sun in Beijing is shining brightly today, and Nolan seemed to radiate his own light. He made sure to interact with nearly every fan, tirelessly signing autographs for us.” Some users expressed their envy, with one saying “I am ‘jealous’ toward everyone who got Nolan’s signature.”
Oppenheimer has garnered more than $700 million at the global box office, becoming the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year, according to a reporter of variety.com. The movie is set to be released on the Chinese mainland on August 30, and topped the “must watch” list on Maoyan, a popular Chinese movie ticketing platform.
(Global Times)
