The film opens against a black screen containing the heading “WORLD WAR II JULY, 1945,” accompanied by the following statement: “The destruction of Nazi Germany by the Allied forces had ended the fighting in Europe. In the Pacific, Japan was desperately fighting a losing battle against America and her allies. At Alamogordo, New Mexico, a new and secret weapon was about to be tested in the desert.”
       End credits feature a “Special Thanks to Bono Film Services,” including Joseph R. Bono, Richard N. Houk, Mireille C. Kreeger, Dorothy J. MacDorman, Allen L. Russell, Richard D. Ero, Joseph K. Hooper, Miguel A. Munoz, Carl P. Palumbo and Zenon J. Slawinski.
       The filmmakers include another “special thanks” to the following contributors: Chris Beaver, Lance Bird, Tom and Lillian Brandon, Alida R. Dayton, Film Fund, Charles Grigg, Judy Irving, Tom Johnson, Arthur Kanegis, Richard Klein, Mary Lampson, Terry Lawler, J. Fred MacDonald, National Archives staff, Ginny Newsom, Richard Prelinger, Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Rafferty, Deborah Shaffer.
       Additional “thanks” are given to: Peter Adair, Nick Allen, Emile de Antonio, Guy Arceneaux, John Avildsen, Jules Backus, Smith W. Bagley, Claude Beller, Mary Benjamin, Peter Biskind, Larry Bogdanow, Anne Bohlen, Barry A. Brown, Nancy Casey, Bernie Chertok, David Crimmins, David Crocker, Stuart Cody, d.c. space, E. L. Doctorow, John Douglas, Howard Dratch, Ralph Embree, Roseann Ernst, Elizabeth Dworkin, Connie Field, Mary Fingers, Robert Finley, Phillip Frazer, Ellen Geiger, Charles Gellert, Doug Gillette, Karen Gittleman, Seth Glickenhaus, Jack Goelman, Green Mountain Post, Bruce Greenberg, Wade Greene, Sally Groo, Anna Gyorgy, Steven Haft, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Harris IV, Frances Hart, Syd Hausnecht, Ruth Heller, Elizabeth Hess, Abbie Hoffman, Barbara Hoffman, Dale Hopkins, Derek Huntington, Calvin Jefferson, Lisa Johnson, Daniel Keller, Peter Kinoy, Daphne Kis, Sam Kitt, Barbara Kopple, Ruth Landy, Jennifer Lawson, Charles Light, Chip Lord, Darlene McClurkin, Michael Mayne, Stefan Moore, Media Network, M.U.S.E., William T. Murphy, Jill Nelson, Jack Muth, Andrew Noren, Dolores Neuman, Grace Paley, Pacific Street Films, Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Patterson Jr., M. C. Parker, Eric Peterson, Richard Peterson, Lynn Phillips, Drummond Pike, Dennis Pohl, Harold Potter, Judy Pratt, Corinne Rafferty, Robert Richter, Marilyn Ries, Lloyd Ritter, Donale Roe, David Root, Jonathon Rose, Robert Rouse, Dr. Vera Rubin, Fernando Sandoval, Richard Schmiechen, Pete Seeger, Victor Schonfeld, Sandra Schulberg, Glenn Silber, Jamil Simon, Sue Simpson, Larry Singer, Judith Skinner, Amanda Spake, Dinah Starr, John Steiner, China Stewart, Margery Tabankin, Ann Thompson, Ted Troll, Tad Turner, Les Waffen, Paulette Walther, Betsy Weedon, Cora Weiss, Marc N. Weiss, Barbara Zhuetlin.
       The name of composer and conductor Miklós Rózsa is misspelled in end credits as “Rosza.”
       According to production notes in AMPAS library files and a Los Angeles Film Exposition (Filmex) press release, development for The Atomic Café began in 1976 with a collaborative group of filmmakers called “The Archives Project.” Originally intending to create an historical parody of U.S. government propaganda, the focus on the atomic bomb emerged from film researcher Pierce Rafferty’s work as a specialist in nuclear energy and weapons footage. Joining Rafferty in Washington, D.C., were his filmmaker brother, Kevin Rafferty, and Jayne Loader, a journalist and historian teaching film in New York City. There, and at a lab in Arlington, VA, “The Archives Project” began the five-year process of research and editing. According to a 10 Mar 1982 Var article, the budget was approximately $270,000, raised from private donations, grants from the Film Fund and Institute for World Order, and the filmmakers’ own capital. However, a 10 May 1982 Rolling Stone review indicated a final cost of roughly $300,000. A separate 10 Mar 1982 Var news item reported that The Atomic Cafe was scheduled to make its world premiere at a benefit in New York City on 11 Mar 1982, with all proceeds supporting the Media Network and Film Fund. Var also announced the film’s opening at New York City’s Film Forum on 17 Mar 1982, as well as another screening at Filmex in Los Angeles, CA, on 30 Mar 1982.
       A 28 Apr 1982 Var article stated that The Atomic Cafe made $29,500 during its two-week limited engagement at the Film Forum before it re-opened on 23 Mar 1982 at the New York Waverly Twin Theatres, distributed by Libra Films, which had acquired domestic theatrical and ancillary rights to the picture. The company anticipated opening at individual theaters in TX, CA, and Washington, D.C., during the first two weeks of May 1982.