Brendan Fraser’s comeback is underway. The beloved star of The Mummy and George of the Jungle stars in The Whale, the upcoming movie by Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky. A24 released the first photo from the film, showing Fraser as a 600-pound man hoping to reconnect with his teenage daughter. The Whale will premiere at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival in September.
The Whale is based on Samuel D. Hunter’s play and stars Fraser as Charlie, a 600-pound man struggling with obesity and attempting to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter. The two have not seen each other since he abandoned his family for his late gay lover. Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) stars as Charlie’s daughter. Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, and Ty Simpkins also star in the movie.
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“It’s gonna be like something you haven’t seen before,” Fraser told Unilad last year when asked about The Whale. “That’s really all I can tell you…The wardrobe and costume was extensive, seamless, cumbersome. This is certainly far removed from anything I’ve ever done but not to be coy…I do know it’s going to make a lasting impression.”
The Whale marks Fraser’s first starring role since his 2013 action movie Breakout, notes Variety. He was recently seen in a supporting role in Steven Soderberg’s HBO Max movie No Sudden Move and has a role in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Apple TV+ movie Killers of the Flower Moon. He also plays the villain Firefly in the upcoming DC Comics movie Batgirl for HBO Max. Fraser also voices Robotman in HBO Max’s Doom Patrol.
Aronofsky earned a Best Director Oscar nomination for Black Swan in 2011. His other films include Pi, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream, and The Wrestler. His previous film, mother!, hit theaters in 2017 and was divisive with critics. Aronofsky already signed on for his follow-up to The Whale, Adrift, starring Jared Leto.
A24 has not set a wide release date for The Whale. The studio has two other movies premiering in Venice, Pearl and The Eternal Daughter. Pearl is Ti West’s prequel to his horror movie X, starring Mia Goth. The Eternal Daughter was written and directed by The Souvenir filmmaker Joanna Hogg and stars Tilda Swinton. Hogg’s film is billed as a ghost story about a woman and her elderly mother facing long-buried secrets in their former family home.
