After the epic about the man who invented the nuclear weapon was nominated for 13 Oscar Awards, distribution company Bitters End announced on Wednesday that Japanese fans can see “Oppenheimer” in theaters starting on March 29.
The release date comes nearly eight months after memes that combined images from the movie “Barbie” with shots from atomic bombs incited indignation among the people of Japan, the only nation to be struck by a nuclear bomb during a war.
Barbie distributor Warner Brothers Japan issued an apology in response to the outcry over the “Barbenheimer” memes, describing them as “extremely deplorable” at the time.
A spokesperson for Bitters End declined to comment on the release date or say why it took over half a year for “Oppenheimer” to be screened in Japan.
“We decided to release this film in Japan after much debate and deliberation, as the themes covered in this film are ones that hold a very significant and special meaning for us as Japanese people,” Bitters End said in December, according to local media, when it said Oppenheimer would be released in Japan sometime in 2024.
During World War Two, on August 6, 1945, the United States launched a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, killing thousands of people there immediately and roughly 140,000 by the end of the year. Three days later, the US detonated another bomb on Nagasaki, killing almost 73,000 people. Japan gave up on August 15.
