Brendan Fraser’s The Whale Continues To Dominate Its Limited Release

Despite only releasing on six screens, The Whale has managed to take almost $600,000 at the end of its second weekend.

A24

Although A24’s The Whale would never be able to compete with Avatar: The Way of Water at the box office, the Brendan Fraser movie has been putting out some impressive numbers again in its second weekend on limited release. Darren Aronofsky’s drama has only been available on six screens in New York and Los Angeles but has continued to build its domestic gross, which now stands at $596,000. The strong opening performance of the movie resulted in a per-theater average that surpassed A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, which became a hit back in March.

The movie has received some rave reviews for its stars, Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink, even if the comments on the movie itself have been about average. However, the film has been the subject of much media attention, not least for the inclusion of Fraser, who is making a Hollywood comeback that is being greatly helped by The Whale. This week will see the movie expand its release to a total of around 500 screens across the U.S., which could see the movie’s takings take a huge jump in the coming weeks.

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The Whale originally launched at the Venice International Film Festival to rave reviews, and its subsequent festival viewings led to numerous standing ovations for Fraser and Aronofsky. Since then, The Whale has been the subject of multiple possible award nominations for the Oscars and Golden Globes. Fraser could certainly get a massive career boost if he walked away with the best actor award from any major ceremonies.

Related: Brendan Fraser Wants to Work on More Projects That Speak to a ‘Broader Common Humanity’ After The Whale

Was Brendan Fraser the Right Person for The Whale?

A24

Although some people have taken issue with Fraser being cast in the lead role of a 600lb man in The Whale, a part that required him to wear a “fat suit,” director Aronofsky has made it clear that there was no one else who he would rather have in the role other than Fraser. In a previous interview, Aronofsky explained exactly how long he had waited to find the right person for the movie. He said:

“Over the ten years that I had it, there was never really an actor that got me excited to really do this. I thought of everyone in different ways thinking about it. But, none of it really kind of clicked or made sense. And then I saw the trailer of a kind of low-budget Brazilian movie, and he had a supporting role – Brendan – and a light bulb went off. I said, ‘What about that guy?’ To be really transparent, I didn’t really know any of his work that much. I had seen the Mummys, but I hadn’t seen George of the Jungle or Encino Man, and I had seen none of the dramatic work… but it was a real gut feeling: ‘I like this guy.'”

The Whale goes on a moderate general release on Dec. 21.

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