To celebrate the release of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” the Historical Society of Princeton has added a new walking tour to its event schedule inspired by the film’s title character and late Princeton resident J. Robert Oppenheimer.

A scene from ‘Oppenheimer.’ Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

The Oppenheimer Walking Tour led by Steve Yacik, regular guide for Historical Society of Princeton’s tours, will take visitors across the grounds that the famous theoretical physicist and credited father of the atomic bomb once roamed.

The walking tour will start at the Princeton Garden Theater and include several stops, such as The Frist Campus Center and the exterior of Alexander Hall. Yacik will tell tour groups many stories about Oppenheimer and his family that were not featured in the film, including some that describe Oppenheimer’s time as director of the Institute for Advanced Study and his final years spent in Princeton leading up to his death in 1967.

Along the tour, visitors also will have the opportunity to take photos at two of the three locations used as sets in the film. These set locations are both located on Princeton University’s campus as the tour will not extend to the Institute for Advanced Study due to distance.

August tours have sold out. However, more dates are being added in the coming weeks.

Back in April of 2022, “Oppenheimer” filming rattled Princeton as students and locals crowded Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study’s campuses when footage of director Christopher Nolan and famous movie stars Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. quickly spread across social media.  The University Chapel and East Pyne at Princeton University and Fuld Hall at the Institute for Advanced Study were used as sets for the film. The aforementioned locations can all be seen in the final theatrical release.

Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is a biographical film that explores J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy) at the most important moment of his career. Depicted in the film and based on reality, Oppenheimer and the staff of both Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study played a major role in advancing the Manhattan Project, a secret research and development team created by the United States government during World War II to develop the most powerful weapon in history before the Nazis could. “Oppenheimer” explores the creation and aftermath of the first nuclear bomb’s invention.

Oppenheimer Walking Tour price tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at the Historical Society of Princeton’s website when they are added to the tour schedule. For those interested in seeing the movie “Oppenheimer” prior to the tour, visitors can see the film at the Princeton Gardens Theater — fun fact, this is the same longstanding Princeton theater where J. Robert Oppenheimer saw several of his favorite movies with his spouse Katherine.