Brendan Fraser's 'The Whale' SHATTERS box-office records, scores biggest limited opening of the Year
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Brendan Fraser made a stunning comeback to Hollywood with a phenomenal performance in Darren Aronofsky’s ‘The Whale’ and is touted to be a frontrunner for the Best Actor accolade at next year’s Academy Awards. The movie primarily focuses on a man named Charlie who has gained a lot of weight after the tragic death of his partner. His partner's sudden demise shattered him and he started to suffer from an eating disorder. He works as an English professor and wants his students to write something authentic and reconnect with his estranged daughter Ellie (Sadie Sink).
The movie had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this year and received a standing ovation from the audience. Meanwhile, the entire theatre erupted when the movie ended at the BFI London Film Festival and also applauded Fraser’s impeccable performance. ‘The Whale’ has now made its way to the theatres for a limited release and opened to a bumper response by earning a substantial amount of money.
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According to Deadline, the film starring Brendan Fraser in the lead role grossed more than $360,000 from just six theatres, meaning the film earned over $60,000 per screen. As soon as the figures surfaced online, it was revealed that ‘The Whale’ had the highest per-theatre average of 2022, as well as the second-largest for a limited release since the Covid-19 pandemic forced the theatres to shut their doors for viewers. The movie left behind A24's ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ to become the highest-grossing limited-release opening of 2022.
However, it will be interesting to see if the movie continues to make an impact when it releases nationwide. If we look at the trends, art-house movies tend to do well when they get a limited release, but things don’t work out that well when they hit theatres nationwide. ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is the only movie to earn more than $100 million after getting a limited release and the numbers suggest that ‘The Whale’ might just prove to be another hit for A24.
As of now, Fraser is guaranteed to have a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars and fans would be hoping to see the ‘Mummy’ star getting his hands on the beautiful trophy. However, it’s still unclear if ‘The Whale’ will be nominated for Best Picture or not. Apart from Fraser, the film also sees Hong Chau, Sadie Sink, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton in pivotal roles.
‘The Whale’ is currently running in limited theatres and will open nationwide Wednesday, December 21.
