Amazon Prime Video to add biggest Oscar-winning movie in years this week

Oppenheimer is coming

Oppenheimer
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

One of the biggest and most celebrated movies in years – and an enormous hit at this year's Oscars – is coming to Amazon Prime Video streaming at no extra cost.

Multiple reports indicate that Oppenheimer will start streaming on the platform (where you've been able to rent or buy it for some time) on 18 June – and it looks like this might apply to both the US and the UK, although Amazon hasn't confirmed anything explicitly. 

It would mark quite a coup in its never-ending battle to be viewed as the best streaming service on the market, though.

Oppenheimer | New Trailer - YouTube Oppenheimer | New Trailer - YouTube
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Christopher Nolan's stunning movie might not be in the upper echelons of all-time Oscar winners (it nabbed seven Academy Awards, when you need eight to crack the top 15 most-awarded movies of all time at the ceremony), but it did streak into the stratosphere where the box office was concerned.

It's estimated to have grossed nearly $1 billion in total, not least thanks to the number of people who saw it in IMAX after it was filmed with the requisite cameras. Artistic best picture winners are often far more modest in their ticket returns, so it stands as one of the most commercially successful winners of all time. 

That's arguably all the more impressive given that it's a three-hour-long historical biopic with some ambiguous and complex scenes, rather than a family-friendly action romp or a broad-brush comedy. Critics and audiences alike loved it, though, with a 93% score from the former on Rotten Tomatoes showing its quality. 

A movie of this scale might have been expected to stay as a premium rental for a good while longer, potentially even through to the holiday season, but it looks like it's instead set to become a summer blockbuster addition to Prime Video, if the rumours circulating are accurate. Regardless, it might be worth holding off on renting it until 18 June just in case – you don't have to wait too long, after all. 

Thanks to Nolan's dedication to practical effects and sheer scale, this is a movie you'll want to watch on as high-quality and large a screen as possible, too. If you haven't checked out our list of the best TVs on the market right now, that's a fantastic place to start if you reckon an upgrade is due.

Max Freeman-Mills

Max is a freelance writer with years of experience in tech and entertainment. He's also a gaming expert, both with the games themselves and in testing accessories and consoles, having flexed that expertise at Pocket-lint as a features editor. He has tested all manner of tech too, from headphones and speakers to apps and software.