Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” Film Delivers

Oliver Stone’s new pronuclear documentary “Nuclear Now” has announced distribution in North American and will be coming to a theatre near you later this spring. The three-time Academy Award winner signed Abramorama and Giant Pictures for the right to screen the film in theaters and on streaming platforms. Nuclear Now will open in New York, Los Angeles and other markets across the U.S. and Canada beginning on April 28th, followed by its release to digital and streaming services.

The film, based on the 2019 book by Dr. Joshua S. Goldstein, “A Bright Future”, makes the case that nuclear is a vital piece of our clean energy solution to climate change. Stone was able to obtain extraordinary access to people in the industry around the world, including Nucleation’s managing partner, Rod Adams and nuclear influencer, Isabelle Boemeke, among others. But Stone also was able to film unique, revealing and damning footage of the acknowledgement of responsibility of Russian operators of the Chernobyl plant for having neglected their jobs and allowing that accident to happen, which caused unimaginable damage to the nuclear industry.

Unlike so many Hollywood disaster and dystopia films, “Nuclear Now” contains a hopeful, “we can do this” message. It features a small selection of some of the many scientists, engineers and communicators working to develop or enable the kinds of advanced nuclear energy systems that are being added to the Nucleation Capital portfolio. In addition to Rod Adams the film’s stars include Jake DeWitt (Oklo), Caroline Cochran (Oklo), Shannon Bragg-Sitton (INL), Ashley Finan (NRIC), Isabelle Boemeke (Isodope), and Joshua Goldstein, the author of the book, “A Bright Future.”

“This is, in my mind, the greatest story of our time,” Oliver Stone said in an interview with Deadline, “discussing humanity’s arc from poverty to prosperity and its mastery of science to overcome the modern demand for more and more energy. I am thrilled that Richard Abramowitz and the teams at Abramorama, Mediawan, ROCO, Giant, Think-Film Impact Production and Participant have come on board to help share this important message with audiences across the country and around the world.”

Updates:

1. Now you can listen to Rod Adams interviewing Oliver Stone and Joshua Goldstein, co-writers of Nuclear Now, for Atomic Show #305. In their conversation, Rod explores their personal journeys from being reflexively opposed to nuclear energy to becoming committed proponents of nuclear power as an important tool for mankind, in a climate stressed world.
2. May 2, 2023: Nucleation Capital hosted the first of several virtual gatherings for those wishing to discuss the film. We invited anyone who was going to attend a local screening to join our virtual Zoom discussion and get their questions answered. This was a very informative and lively discussion. (Sorry, it was not recorded but we will do more.)
3. May 5, 2023 Update:  If you were unable to see the film in the theater, we will be hosting a free screening for those who have not had the chance to see the film. You can now sign up here to get a link to see the film during the coming week or weeks. We will then send you a notification about the next virtual panel discussions, which are now scheduled for Thursday, May 11th and Thursday, May 25th at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET (on both days).

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Read more at Deadline, “‘Nuclear Now’ Trailer: Oliver Stone’s Documentary Makes Case for Atomic Energy to Solve Climate Change,” by Matt Grobar, March 21, 2023.

New York Times, ‘Nuclear Now’ Review: Oliver Stone Makes the Case for Power Plants, by Brandon Yu, NYT Film Critic, April 27, 2023.

HuffPost, Oliver Stone Wants To Atone For Hollywood’s Sins Against Nuclear Energy, by Alexander Kaufman, May 7, 2023.