Nolan sets next film with Universal, spurning Warner Bros.

NEW YORK » After a public fallout over release strategy with Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan’s next film, about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atom bomb, will be released by Universal Pictures.

Representatives for the studio confirmed Tuesday that Universal has acquired the rights to finance and distribute Nolan’s not-yet-titled film.

Nolan also wrote the film’s script about the theoretical physicist. Production is expected to begin early next year.

With only a handful of exceptions, Warner Bros. had long been home to Nolan going back to 2002’s “Insomnia.” With the studio, he made “The Dark Knight” trilogy, the best-picture nominee “Dunkirk,” the 2010 mind-bender “Inception” and 2020’s time-traveling “Tenet.” (Warner Bros. handled international distribution on 2006’s “The Prestige” and 2014’s “Interstellar.”)