Have been you apprehensive that there was just one upcoming film the place somebody will get eaten by a whale? Fret not. There are two, truly.
Leslie Grace — an actor and singer recognized for “Within the Heights” and the “Batgirl” film that Warner Bros. deleted from existence — is ready to star in director Felipe Vargas’ subsequent film “Propel” (per Selection), which is described as “‘Gravity’ meets ‘127 Hours’ underwater.” Grace will star as diver Kate Acosta, who finally ends up swallowed by an unlimited sperm whale whereas performing a industrial dive … and who has to determine the best way to escape along with her life.
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The notably humorous factor about this information is that “Whalefall,” a novel by Daniel Kraus, can also be being tailored into a significant movement image. In March 2025, Deadline reported that Josh Brolin was in talks to hitch the challenge’s solid alongside star Austin Abrams, with Brian Duffield (“No One Will Save You”) serving because the movie’s director. As I’ve already made clear, “Whalefall” follows an analogous trajectory as “Propel.” This time, a scuba diver — performed by Abrams — is looking for the stays of his father, who not too long ago handed away, when he is swallowed by — you guessed it — a sperm whale. With just one hour to determine the best way to escape, the diver is caught in a dire life-and-death state of affairs.
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For those who’re in any respect conversant in, you realize, films, you most likely know that two movies popping out throughout the identical timeframe with the identical premise is not a brand-new state of affairs. This has truly been occurring for many years, so the excellent news for “Propel” and “Whalefall” is that they are in fairly good firm.
Propel and Whalefall will be a part of the ‘dueling films’ corridor of fame
The phenomenon of “dueling movies,” or “twin movies,” undoubtedly is not new; in truth, the primary recognized occasion of this occurring was in 1920 when two variations of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” hit theaters. Since then, it is occurred an honest quantity of instances, like in 1986, when “Prime Gun” and “Iron Eagle” — two films about fighter pilots — got here out, and that very same 12 months, each “Platoon” and “Full Steel Jacket” instructed comparatively related tales about serving in Vietnam. “Tombstone” and “Wyatt Earp,” which each occur to be about Earp, got here out in 1993 and 1994, whereas “Showgirls” and “Striptease” launched in 1995 and 1996. (I do not suppose I want to elucidate the similarity there, proper?)
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Different well-known examples embrace “Dante’s Peak” and “Volcano” in 1997, “Antz” and “A Bug’s Life” in 1998, and “Deep Impression” and “Armageddon” that very same 12 months. Regardless that this feels conspicuous — and like one thing studios might need needed to keep away from — it simply retains occurring, like when “Chasing Liberty” and “First Daughter” each explored the experiences of a fictional First Daughter of america in 2004 and 2006’s “The Status” and “The Illusionist” each offered a gritty have a look at the world of sensible magic (within the nineteenth century, particularly). As of this writing, the latest “twin movies” we will level two are most likely the biopics “Piece by Piece” and “Higher Man,” which each got here out in 2024; each inform tales of real-life musicians in surprising methods, whether or not Pharrell’s life story is being instructed through LEGO animations or Robbie Williams turns into an ape in a biopic that’s, in any other case, fully easy.
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Anyway, neither “Propel” or “Whalefall” has a launch date simply but, however possibly whale lovers will likely be gifted an ideal double characteristic at any time when the dual movies do hit theaters.