# What happened to "Heart of the Sea" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 28, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558 "2015-12-28T13:36:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/1 "2015-12-28T13:36:23Z")
Here last week, gone this week. Was #1 on my list to see this week and no where to be seen. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/2 "2015-12-28T14:02:40Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > Here last week, gone this week. > > Was #1 on my list to see this week and no where to be seen. Few people went to see it the first week it came out, then Star Wars came out and everyone started going to that and even fewer people went to In the Heart of the Sea, and then a bunch more movies started coming out at Christmas, so fewer screens were available. I don’t know where you are, but it’s possible the movie is still playing at a theater in a neighboring city. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/3 "2015-12-28T14:57:29Z")
Some wag noted that Chris Hemsworth is a mere mortal when he’s minus his hammer. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/4 "2015-12-28T15:02:22Z")
It opened here in Scotland on Boxing Day and I’m hoping to see it later this week… ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/5 "2015-12-28T15:03:12Z")
I saw the ads for that movie, and I’m interested in seeing it, but yeah _Star Wars_ is definitely gonna come first. I’ll Netflix _Heart of the Sea_ when it comes out on video. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/6 "2015-12-28T16:17:31Z")
Mediocre reviews, mediocre word of mouth (B+ Cinemascore), CGI-fest trailer, Star Wars…there was not much working in favor of this film. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/7 "2015-12-28T16:27:51Z")
I am not sure about the links accuracy, having 3100 screens for 2 weeks seems high. [http://the-numbers.com/movie/In-the-Heart-of-the-Sea#tab=box-office](http://the-numbers.com/movie/In-the-Heart-of-the-Sea#tab=box-office) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/8 "2015-12-28T16:52:03Z")
Box Office Mojo says it had a domestic gross over two weeks of $22,000,000 and a foreign gross of $53,800,000, while IMDB estimates the budget at $100 million. So not a big moneymaker, but that’s going to be tough when it was in the path of a giant storm. Particularly unfortunate as it’s a Warner Bros release and they’ve had a terrible year. Given the other revenue sources for films today, it might still break even, but who knows. I saw it and liked it enough, but in terms of seafaring adventures, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was better. This, of course, had the advantage of being a true story. One of the last lines was terribly clunky, though. Herman Melville was leaving Thomas Nickerson, he said something like, “Did you hear that they found oil in the ground in Pennsylvania? Imagine that.” They’re referring, of course, to the early wells in Titusville, PA, which was the beginning of the crude oil exploitation in the US, and the end to the use of sperm whale oil for lamps and lighting. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/9 "2015-12-28T16:54:13Z")
I loved the book; my husband saw the movie free on post and said he wanted his money back. It was evidently pretty awful. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/10 "2015-12-28T17:18:46Z")
I read the book and liked it well enough, although it didn’t blow me away, and I have no interest in seeing the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/11 "2015-12-28T17:30:27Z")
The old lady tossed it off the stern of the boat. 😛 Yes, I know. Ocean, sea… same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/12 "2015-12-28T17:53:02Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I loved the book; my husband saw the movie free on post and said he wanted his money back. It was evidently pretty awful. As a true-disaster story junkie, I also liked the book. I can’t imagine a cast of young, ripply-muscled studs in these roles. It seems many critics agree with your husband. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/13 "2015-12-28T19:26:21Z")
> [@Gothic](#): > > I am not sure about the links accuracy, having 3100 screens for 2 weeks seems high. > > [In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Financial Information](http://the-numbers.com/movie/In-the-Heart-of-the-Sea#tab=box-office) It dropped to 685 screens _before_ the weekend. ETA link: [In the Heart of the Sea - Box Office Mojo](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=heartofthesea.htm) This is going to lose a fair chunk of change for Warners, perhaps as much as $100M. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/14 "2015-12-28T21:11:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The old lady tossed it off the stern of the boat. > > :p… Well, baby, I went down and got it for you: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEsqGOHo0nI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEsqGOHo0nI) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/15 "2015-12-29T01:43:17Z")
What I’ve heard is that the real story, as shown in the film, was so boring that Melville had to fictionalize it to make it interesting enough to sell. Note that the “interesting” book was Moby-Dick and “sell” meant 3215 copies in 36 years. It’s that bad. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-heart-of-the-sea/741558/16 "2015-12-29T02:04:34Z")
My wife and I saw it. Nothing amazing, but interesting enough. Always worth seeing Brendon Gleeson.