New ‘Whalefall’ Clip Puts Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin at Sea Ahead of the Film’s Deep-Dive Survival Ordeal
Few movies this fall have generated as many internet memes as ‘Whalefall‘. The premise of a man swallowed alive by a sperm whale has been catnip for online jokes, and the latest ‘Whalefall’ clip gives fans another look at what the film has in store.
The survival thriller comes from 20th Century Studios and Imagine Entertainment, and it is adapted from Daniel Kraus’ acclaimed 2023 novel. Marketing has described it as ‘The Martian’ meets ‘127 Hours’, a fitting comparison for a movie built on a single man’s fight against the odds.
With the film now just over 2 weeks from release, a new clip has arrived. Shared through Fandango, the 1-minute-2-second video shows Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin aboard a boat, and it arrives as the film prepares to open in theaters on October 16.
In the frame shared online, Abrams sits in the boat’s wheelhouse wearing a gray hoodie and a cap, glancing over as Brolin steers. Brolin, with a gray beard and a maroon cap, wears a brown jacket and stares out at the open water.
The setup fits the film’s father-son dynamic. Brolin’s character, Mitt, is Jay’s father, and flashbacks to their relationship run throughout Jay’s fight for survival inside the whale.
New clip from Brian Duffield’s ‘WHALEFALL’ starring Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin. 🎥
— Film Crave (@_filmcrave) September 30, 2026
In theaters on October 16. pic.twitter.com/KXejrevtj2
The official synopsis has Jay Gardiner, played by Abrams, diving off the central coast of California in search of his father’s remains after his death. Instead, he is swallowed by a massive sperm whale, trapped inside its belly with only one hour of oxygen left.
The whale is described as 80 feet long and 60 tons. Jay comes to realize that the hard-earned lessons his father imparted may be the key to his escape.
The film continues a growing partnership between its two leads. It is the third film Abrams and Brolin have made together, after Abrams’ small role in ‘Gangster Squad’ and their much larger pairing in ‘Weapons’.
Abrams has been busy. He also stars in Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil’, which opened on September 18, less than a month before ‘Whalefall’. He has said little about it, but a behind-the-scenes video revealed that he swam with sperm whales to prepare for the role.
Because much of the movie rests on Abrams’ shoulders, director Brian Duffield has said the goal was to make audiences feel trapped alongside Jay rather than constantly cutting away from him.
Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy and Emily Rudd round out the cast. Duffield directs from a screenplay he wrote with Kraus, and Brian Grazer, Duffield, Jeb Brody and Allan Mandelbaum produce for Imagine Entertainment.
Doug Merrifield, Richard Abate and Will Rowbotham serve as executive producers. The film was shot in Monterey, California.
Duffield wrote ‘No One Will Save You’ and ‘Spontaneous’ and produced ‘Cocaine Bear’. Kraus, whose novel ‘Angel Down’ won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, also co-wrote the script, which suggests the adaptation stays close to the source.
The novel itself earned a spot on The New York Times’ list of the best thrillers of 2023. Imagine acquired the rights before the book was even published, and 20th Century Studios later won a bidding war for distribution in March 2024.
‘Whalefall’ opens exclusively in theaters on October 16, a busy date that also includes ‘Sense and Sensibility’, ‘Street Fighter’ and ‘Crawlers’, among 25 films. The UK’s BBFC has listed the film with a 15 certificate.
The most recent trailer, which arrived in early September, offered a longer look at Jay inside the whale, and the meme-friendly setup has kept the film in the online conversation ever since.
How excited are you to see Whalefall?
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