By Jonathan Klotz | Published
There’s no rhyme or reason to what becomes a streaming hit, recent box office bombs Horizon: an American saga And Furiosa: A Mad Max saga becoming hits on Netflix makes sense, but surprisingly, the historical adventure In the Heart of the Seaa 2015 box office failure, joined them. The film, directed by Ron Howard, only grossed $25 million in theaters, but these days, streaming success is becoming more and more important. With a cast including Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland and Cillian Murphy, it’s no wonder curious subscribers have been watching the film.
The inspiration for Moby Dick
In the Heart of the Sea tells the story of a whaler, Essexattacked by a large white whale and forced the crew to take refuge on three smaller whaleboats. Adrift on the open sea, the crew fights for survival, battling the weather, the ocean, and each other. With Ron Howard behind the camera, the story is both beautiful and poignant, but it’s all the more dramatic because it’s based on a true story.
The Essex was a real whaling ship sunk in 1820 with only a handful of survivors, but two of them, the mate, Chase Owens, and the cabin boy, Thomas Nickerson, ended up writing about the incident upon their return at their home. Nantucket. In the Heart of the Sea is a dramatic retelling of their stories that adapts the nonfiction book of the same name by historian Nathaniel Philbrick. In case you’re curious, the whale that destroyed the ship, described as a “great white whale”, inspired Herman Melville when he wrote Moby-Dickwhich you probably never knew was based, in part, on a true story.
Saved from obscurity by a cast of superstars
It was not lovers of classic literature who propelled In the Heart of the Sea to the top of Netflix’s streaming rankings, but instead it was about the increased power of the three leads. In the past decade since the film’s original release, Chris Hemsworth has become known as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Holland is Spider-Man, and Cillian Murphy has risen to fame through Peaky Blinders And Oppenheimer. In 2015, when Hemsworth had already played Thor in Avengershe wasn’t a solo draw, and Holland landed the role of Peter Parker thanks in part to his performance as Nickerson, the cabin boy.
Future superstars didn’t take In the Heart of the Sea easy either, partly because of the extreme physical demands of players stranded on the open sea and partly because of Ron Howard’s decision to bring the storm to them. Instead of relying entirely on CGI, Howard blasted the cast with cold water cannons on the deck of the ship to give the real impression of being battered by the rage of the ocean. Hemsworth called the film the most difficult and demanding performance of his career, but it was rewarded, with critics praising his performance upon its release.
While critics liked the film, it suffered from a poor release date, where it was clearly intended to be counter-programming on the part of Warner Bros., the studio that seems incapable of doing anything GOOD. In The heart of the seaan old-fashioned historical drama, premiered on December 11, 2015, a week before Star Wars: The Force Awakens, one of the most successful films in human history. It turns out that the film was simply ahead of its time, and the actors turned superstars sparked interest in their past work, and a survival adventure on the high seas is a better choice than watching Black hat.
In the Heart of the Sea is now streaming on Netflix.
