Brian Duffield

I'm your host, Neil McRobber, and take a big deep breath before we begin, 'cause Whale Fall is out in cinemas today.

Brian Duffield's adaptation of Daniel Kraus' incredible novel about a young man who's swallowed by a whale and who must navigate a clenching esophagus, caustic stomach acid, and dead daddy grief as he attempts to survive.

Now, I was lucky enough to see a screening of the movie, and even luckier to get time with Brian and Daniel to talk about how the hell they made something so audacious.

You'll hear about the practical stomach effects and how they tortured the star, Austin Abrams, maybe even more than the Resident Evil set.

But rant over.

Go see Whalefall.

It's a massive step up for Brian Duffield.

It is a worthy adaptation of Daniel's novel.

[laughs] He, he said the other day, too, like, someone asked him in one of these, uh, like what his favorite part of the movie was, and he said, "It was, like, all the friends I made." [laughs] And I was like, "That's really lovely and sweet," yeah.

For, for you as a, as a filmmaker, once you ...

You know, when, when you're shooting and, and once you wrap, h- how do we get to the version of the film we see today? You know, what, what's the edit process like, uh-

Yeah

Um, but there's just something really in- intoxicating about how it's, how it's done that I just, I just loved.

Yeah.

Like, I love when filmmakers do something, you know, extreme or try something new, you know, setting a whole film inside a whale.

[laughs]

[upbeat music] How do you adapt a novel that takes place almost entirely inside the belly of a sperm whale for cinema? So when author Daniel Kraus wrote Whale Fall, he created this high-concept claustrophobic thriller, really horrific in my opinion, that combined meticulous marine biology with this emotionally devastating father-son story.

And it was a book that many thought would be impossible to bring to a film until Brian Duffield slid in, and I mean literally slid into Daniel's DMs when he simply posted the premise on his Twitter.

This is Gigi Hawkins.

You're listening to the No Film School podcast, and today we are speaking with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Kraus and filmmaker Brian Duffield.

Daniel is a New York Times bestselling author who has collaborated with masters like Guillermo del Toro and George A. Romero.

And Brian is a writer-director behind acclaimed films like Spontaneous and No One Will Save You.

Uh, well, thank you guys so much for all this.

I hope our listeners tune in, geek out, get scared, put their back against the wall, and then go make movies inspired by all of this.

Um, it looks like Reeves will have to be dealing with something for an extended period of time, so somebody...

Instead of scrapping The Batman: Part Two, WB turned to another director, and Matt Reeves' friend from the look of things, Steven Soderbergh, the director of the Ocean's 11 trilogy, um, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Um, and Soderbergh has committed to stepping in, finishing The Batman: Part Two filming, and helping WB get this in the can.

Now, all parties involved have all been upfront kind of saying, you know, letting the public know this isn't... [laughs] Basically, this ain't Justice League again.

Right.

And so they're very, very carefully kind of, like, making sure that that is said.

So the studio said, "As Matt Reeves continues to attend to an ongoing family matter, Steven Soderbergh, as an admirer of Matt's work, approached Matt and will step in with full support of DC Studios to help the writer-director complete the final weeks of principal photography on The Batman: Part Two.

Matt and Steven will work closely together with the actors and crew to fulfill Matt's vision of the film."

Uh, this is from a...

It's directed by a guy named Brian Duffield, um, a great sci-fi director, made a film a few years ago with, uh, Katelyn Dever called, uh, No One Will Save You.

It was like a silent alien invasion movie.

Very effective.

Um, and it's based on a book by a guy named Daniel Kraus, who co-wrote the screenplay with Brian Duffield.

And again, they're taking, you know, Austin Abrams, who's having a bit of a moment between Weapons last year, Resident Evil, which wasn't, is, isn't just one of the best reviewed horrors of, of the, of the year, it's one of the most profitable as well.

Hmm.

And No One Will Save You is another quality film.

Both come from director Brian Duffield.

Now, there was a rumor that Brian Duffield was being eyed to direct a new Alien franchise entry.

And he has a good working relationship with 20th Century Studios, so many people thought, okay, this is it.

Apparently, Duffield was speaking with the Hollywood reporters, and this is where it gets interesting.

[instrumental music] All right.

Whale Fall, directed by Brian Duffield, starring Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, uh, Em- Emily Rudd, among others.

Honestly, not really among others.

That's pretty much it.

[footsteps] Horror Joy Fresh Cuts, immediate reactions to your newest favorite movie.

I'm sitting in a parking lot of an AMC in central Pennsylvania, just minutes from watching Whale Fall, directed by Brian Duffield.

This is based on a book by Daniel Kraus, which is a beautiful book.

If you have not read it, you should.

I mean, it is Austin Abrams, that's why.

Uh, Brian Duffield, who did like No One Will Save You and then-

Excuse me

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