Were you worried that there was only one upcoming movie where someone gets eaten by a whale? Fret not. There are two, actually.
Leslie Grace — an actor and singer known for “In the Heights” and the “Batgirl” movie that Warner Bros. deleted from existence — is set to star in director Felipe Vargas’ next movie “Propel” (per Variety), which is described as “‘Gravity’ meets ‘127 Hours’ underwater.” Grace will star as diver Kate Acosta, who ends up swallowed by an enormous sperm whale while performing a commercial dive … and who has to figure out how to escape with her life.
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The particularly funny thing about this news is that “Whalefall,” a novel by Daniel Kraus, is also being adapted into a major motion picture. In March 2025, Deadline reported that Josh Brolin was in talks to join the project’s cast alongside star Austin Abrams, with Brian Duffield (“No One Will Save You”) serving as the film’s director. As I’ve already made clear, “Whalefall” follows a similar trajectory as “Propel.” This time, a scuba diver — played by Abrams — is searching for the remains of his father, who recently passed away, when he’s swallowed by — you guessed it — a sperm whale. With only one hour to figure out how to escape, the diver is stuck in a dire life-and-death situation.
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If you’re at all familiar with, you know, movies, you probably know that two films coming out during the same timeframe with the same premise isn’t a brand-new situation. This has actually been happening for decades, so the good news for “Propel” and “Whalefall” is that they’re in pretty good company.