20th Century Studios Wins Rights to ‘Whalefall’; Brian Duffield to Direct

After a heated bidding war between multiple studios, Disney’s 20th Century Studios won the rights to Imagine Entertainment‘s thriller Whalefall, based on the recently published novel by bestseller Daniel Kraus.

According to Deadline, Brian Duffield has been tapped to write, direct, and produce. This marks a reunion for Duffield and the studio as the two worked together on the sci-fi thrill No One Will Save You, which was released on Hulu last Summer.

The film is said to be The Martian meets 127 Hours and is a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.

Kraus will co-write, with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, and Allan Mandelbaum to produce for Imagine Entertainment, alongside Duffield. Previously producing Duffield’s No One Will Save You for 20th, it was the latter who brought the book into Imagine. Exec producers on the Whalefall feature are Richard Abate and Will Rowbotham of 3 Arts Entertainment. J.R. Young is overseeing the project for 20th Century Studios.