House of Dynamite writer ‘respectfully disagrees’ with Pentagon complaints about nuclear missile thriller | film

Noah Oppenheim, the writer of Kathryn Bigelow’s nuclear missile thriller House of Dynamite, has responded to Pentagon complaints about the accuracy of its depiction of US defense systems, saying he “respectfully disagrees.”[s]”.

In an internal memo dated October 16 and obtained by Bloomberg, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said: “The fictional interceptors in the film miss their target, and we understand that this is intended to be a convincing piece of drama intended to entertain the audience,” but the real-world test results “tell a very different story.”

The memo added that US interceptors “have demonstrated a 100% accuracy rate in testing for more than a decade.”

Oppenheim, the former president, told NBC News that he spoke to “several missile defense experts, all of whom are on the record… Our missile defense system is highly imperfect.” He added: “What we show in the film is accurate.”

In the film, ground-based interceptors, launched from Alaska, fail to stop a nuclear strike on Chicago.

However, nuclear physicist Laura Grego, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Bloomberg that the threat posed by the film was arguably the most obvious one the United States might have to deal with. “A robust defense should expect to encounter numerous credible ICBMs and booby traps, and direct attacks on missile defense elements, but none of them were part of the story in this film. The fictional threat is arguably as easy as they come.”

Bigelow told The Guardian that the film did not ask for the Pentagon’s endorsement or cooperation to ensure its independence, saying: “Our nuclear arsenal is a fallible structure. Inside it are men and women working thanklessly behind the scenes, and their competence means I can sit down and have this conversation. But competence does not mean they are infallible.”

The United States currently has 44 ground-based interceptors, based in Alaska and California, and in 2020, the Pentagon awarded a $13.3 billion contract to Northrop Grumman for a new generation of ground-based missiles, scheduled for delivery in 2029. In May, Donald Trump proposed a “Gold Dome” missile system, incorporating space-based weapons to intercept strikes against the United States.