No One Will Save You director Brian Duffield will direct Whalefall, a survival thriller where a man is stuck inside a whale. Yes, really.
Brian Duffield, the director of No One Will Save You and Spontaneous, has set his sights on a lead actor for his next project. Duffield is set to adapt Daniel Kraus’ novel Whalefall, and Austin Abrams, who was last seen alongside George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the thriller Wolfs, is set to star, as reported by Deadline.
What could a novel titled Whalefall be about, I hear you asking. According to Deadline, the original novel has been described as a mix of The Martian and 127 Hours, which have also been successfully adapted into excellent films. Kraus’ novel does include a similar beat-the-clock narrative, but a much wilder premise.
Whalefall follows scuba diving teenager Jay, who is looking for his father’s remains at the bottom of an ocean. As if scuba diving wasn’t dangerous enough, Jay is swallowed by a sperm whale and finds himself very much alive inside the beast. However, he only has enough oxygen for an hour, so the clock is ticking for him to get out somehow – and there are only two exits.
Abrams will play Jay in the film, which is co-written by Duffield and Kraus. The original novel, published in 2023, was critically acclaimed, making this a huge priority for 20th Century Studios, who secured the rights to the book last year.
If Duffield keeps to the tone of No One Will Save You, we’re in for a tense, exciting ride. There’s no information on when the film might begin production or when the studio is looking to release it, but it’s likely that 20th Century Studios are keen to get started on Whalefall sooner rather than later.
We’ll bring you more news on Whalefall as we get it.
