'Whalefall' Loses 1,000 Theaters in Its Third Week

Brian Duffield's survival thriller “Whalefall,” starring Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin, lost 1,065 theaters in its third week, dropping from 3,065 theaters at its October 16 opening to 2,000.

The film earned $7.8 million in its opening weekend, fell 60.6 percent to about $3.08 million in its second weekend, then fell another 61.9 percent to $1.17 million in its third, for a worldwide total of about $36.87 million against a reported $60 million production cost.

The steep drops mark “Whalefall” as one of the fall's clear box-office disappointments. Survival thrillers depend on word of mouth to hold beyond opening weekend, and the film's week-to-week collapses suggest audiences did not rally after the debut.

Theater counts are a blunt but telling signal: exhibitors pull screens when seats go empty, reallocating them to stronger titles. Losing more than a third of its footprint in a single week leaves the film with little room to recover.

For Duffield, known for inventive genre work, the result is a setback after a high-profile adaptation. The film's remaining run will likely play out on fewer screens before moving to streaming, where its fate may be kinder than in theaters.