Of the remaining book-to-screen adaptations to arrive on the big screen in 2026, Whalefall is among my most anticipated. I can’t wait to see how Brian Duffield brings Daniel Kraus’ intense story of grief and survival in the face of an unimaginable situation to life. From what we saw in the last trailer, as well as the one that just dropped today, it looks like we’re in for a wild ride. In fact, I had a full-on Jaws flashback, watching as Austin Abrams’ character, Jay Gardiner, finds himself being devoured by a whale while scuba diving in search of his father’s remains.
Here’s the thing though, as scary as that scene is, the trailer also shows us the bigger picture, which is the fight for survival. Also a fight against a big squid, but that’s a more literal struggle. Honestly, I think what gets me the most about this trailer, especially as I’m thinking about Jaws, is the sound Abrams’ character is making — muffled cries of terror through his scuba mask — I can still hear it in my head, and it makes me think of poor Chrissie at the start of Jaws, when the shark is trying to pull her under. I can still hear that too.
But like I was getting at, Whalefall isn’t Jaws. In the Steven Spielberg movie, a characters’ story is pretty much over once they’ve been swallowed. As we can see in the trailer Brian Duffield’s Whalefall, Gardiner’s story is only just beginning.
The story is less a horror as it is a survival thriller. Jay Gardiner’s father (played by Josh Brolin) died scuba diving, and now Jay is searching for his remains. This is what puts him in the path of the squid and the sperm whale. After he’s swallowed by the whale, he’s equipped with whatever oxygen is left in his tank and the lessons his father bestowed on him to try to come out of the situation alive.
In addition to really diving into the terror of the situation — being swallowed by a giant sperm whale, facing off with a squid, and likely the intense pressure of the ocean’s depth — the trailer also gives us samples of Jay’s father’s wisdom, as Brolin’s voice can be heard throughout parts of it. “Remember, survivor’s survive,” he says.
Those who’ve read the book know how things turn out for the character. In fact, the book gets an extra nod with this trailer’s release, as it came with a new poster release, which clearly pays tribute to the source material:
The image of a scuba diver hovering over a whale’s open mouth is what’s depicted on the cover of Daniel Kraus’ book. As Kraus is also credited for co-writing the screenplay alongside Brian Duffield, I’m optimistic that the spirit of the book will really come through in this adaptation. Even if I hadn’t read the book though, I think the trailers for this movie would’ve sold me.
Whalefall arrives in theaters on the 2026 movie schedule on October 16.