Even though A24’s The Whale will never be able to compete with Avatar: The Way of Water at the box office, the Brendan Fraser film has continued to turn up some excellent numbers in its second weekend of limited distribution. The drama directed by Darren Aronofsky has only been shown on six screens in New York and Los Angeles, but it has steadily increased its domestic box office earnings, which are currently at $596,000. A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, which became a smash back in March, was eclipsed in terms of per-theater average thanks to the film’s impressive opening weekend.
Even though the reviews for the film’s stars, Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink, have been generally positive, the reviews for the film as a whole have been mixed. Nevertheless, the movie has received a lot of media interest, not least because it stars Fraser, whose comeback in Hollywood is considerably aided by The Whale. The movie will start playing on an additional 500 screens this week, which may significantly increase its box office earnings over the next few weeks.
The Whale premiered to rousing praise at the Venice International Film Festival, and Fraser and Aronofsky received multiple standing ovations at subsequent festival screenings. Since then, The Whale has been the topic of several potential Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. If Fraser won the best actor prize at any significant ceremonies, his career would most surely see a significant boost.
