Austin Abrams’ rough 2026 keeps getting worse—at least onscreen. After “Weapons” and with “Resident Evil” arriving later this month, “Whalefall” gives the actor perhaps his most physically miserable assignment yet: getting swallowed alive by a sperm whale.
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A new trailer has arrived for Brian Duffield’s adaptation of Daniel Kraus’ acclaimed 2023 novel. Abrams plays Jay Gardiner, who dives off California’s Central Coast searching for the remains of his late father, Mitt (Josh Brolin). Instead, Jay winds up inside a massive sperm whale with only an hour of oxygen and very few options for getting out alive. 20th Century Studios will release the film exclusively in theaters on October 16.
Despite that creature-feature premise, Duffield has stressed that much of “Whalefall” operates as an unusually contained survival story. “The bulk of our movie takes place within the whale himself,” he told TheWrap. The film unfolds nearly in real time as Jay moves through the animal while his oxygen disappears, with Duffield estimating that the movie is roughly “95% Austin Abrams.”
That puts a considerable amount of the movie on Abrams’ shoulders. Duffield said the goal was to make the audience feel trapped alongside Jay rather than constantly cutting away from him. However, flashbacks gradually reveal his difficult relationship with his father and the lessons that may ultimately help him survive.
“Whalefall” also continues an increasingly frequent Abrams-Brolin partnership. The film marks their third film together after Abrams’ small role in “Gangster Squad” and their much larger pairing in “Weapons.” Meanwhile, Abrams reunites with “Weapons” filmmaker Zach Cregger for “Resident Evil,” which opens September 18—less than a month before “Whalefall.”
Duffield co-wrote the screenplay with Kraus. Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, and Emily Rudd round out the cast. Brian Grazer, Duffield, Jeb Brody, and Allan Mandelbaum produce for Imagine Entertainment, with Doug Merrifield, Richard Abate, and Will Rowbotham serving as executive producers.
“Whalefall” opens exclusively in theaters on October 16. Watch the new trailer below.
