New in Theaters December 11: In the Heart of the Sea

By Chris Kavan - 12/10/15 at 07:45 AM CT

Thanks to some strong holdover and surprisingly strong start from Christmas horror film Krampus, December got off to a good start. Much like last weekend, there is only one new film making its nationwide debut - but it certainly is a whale of a film (puns aren't my strong suit). The latest from Ron Howard looks to corral the adult crowd away from The Hunger Games and Creed. The other big questions is whether The Good Dinosaur continues its downward spiral, or if it can recover from a rough second weekend.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA Based on the true story that inspired the events in Herman Melville's classic novel, Moby Dick - in 1820 the New England whaling vessel Essex became the focus of attention for a mammoth whale - one with a keenly human sense of vengeance. But the attack was only one part of the tale - the harrowing survival afterwards, with the men facing death at every turn, would put all of the survivors to the ultimate test. Now, Howard's track record of late has been spotty at best. I did quite enjoy Rush - but the Da Vinchi Code films were both disappointing and I'm not even going to try and defend The Dilemma. We'll see how In the Heart of the Sea fares. It does look to have a pretty good cast - Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Benjamin Walker, Ben Whishaw, Michelle Fairley, Frank Dillane and Tom Holland round out an excellent ensemble. That being said, I have a feeling this is going to lean more toward drama than action, despite what the previews would have you think. I'm not totally on board this sea voyage, and I have a feeling the response is going to be mixed. It has a good shot at either leading or at least making a good run at the top spot - if only because of the lack of new blood, but we'll see if that is reason enough to drive audiences into theaters.


Once again, a short, sweet write up. Next week all eyes will be on Star Wars (mine certainly will!), but I'll be back on Sunday with the results.

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