Oppenheimer has beaten an Oscar-winner to break another box office record

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer. — (Image credit: Universal)

Oppenheimer has been steadily breaking records at the box office since it hit theaters earlier this year. Not only has it become Christopher Nolan’s highest-grossing film aside from his Batman trilogy, it’s also become the second-highest grossing R-rated movie of all time too.

Now, the Cillian Murphy-led movie has another record under its belt as it becomes the highest grossing biopic in film history. The accolade was previously held by Bohemian Rhapsody, the Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic that was released in 2018. Interestingly too, this means that the top two grossing biopics star Rami Malek.

Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Murphy), the American theoretical physicist who is often called the "father of the atomic bomb". His leading role in World War Two’s Manhattan Project helped develop the first nuclear weapons, which were used to devastating impact on Japan.

The movie has been widely acclaimed (including landing five stars from Total Film) with praise given to Nolan’s tense storytelling and Murphy’s incredible performance. Other cast members of the star-studded film include Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, and Matt Damon.

Oppenheimer is expected to break some more box office records too, given that it’s got a theatrical release window of at least 100 days. This means, unlike Barbie, you shouldn’t be expecting it on digital release for a while longer yet.

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.