The whale from Whalefall has taken over 20th Century Studios’ X account twice this month, on September 9 and September 23, posting in character to insist it did nothing wrong ahead of the survival thriller’s October 16 release. Across more than two dozen posts, the sperm whale argued its side of the story, and as of today the account’s bio is still written in the whale’s voice. The posts land just as tickets go on sale and the movie reveals its own whale popcorn bucket.
The first takeover opened with a censored, all-caps introduction (“I’m the f*cking whale!!!”) and a note that the account belonged to the whale for the day. From there, it went after the plot of its own movie. It said it never attacked anyone and simply “yawned wrong.” It pushed back on headlines calling it a 60-ton predator, called itself a filter feeder who eats squid and described the whole thing as a workplace accident. For the record, sperm whales are toothed whales, not filter feeders, which feels about right for a whale trying to talk its way out of trouble.
It also had notes for Jay, the diver played by Austin Abrams. Asked if it felt bad, the whale said Jay had an hour of oxygen and a whole personality crisis while it “had a Tuesday.” It reminded him that it never built a guest room down there, and it poked fun at the idea of working through your relationship with your father from inside a whale. It wrapped up the day by telling everyone to go see its movie on October 16.
The whale came back on September 23 with a simple “I’M BACK” and a new focus on its reputation. It complained that every trailer cut makes it look like it planned the whole thing, when really it “HAD SQUID PLANS.” It said it has been called a gentle giant its whole life but was never gentle, just slow to react. Then came the post that hit hardest, the whale admitting it looks like a monster in the trailer. That one passed 120,000 views, the most of either takeover. It signed off promising to keep yelling about its innocence until October 16.
The takeover is part of a bigger push for the film. Tickets went on sale today, and Whalefall now has its own sculpted whale popcorn bucket, complete with a tiny diver clinging to the side, which we broke down in our Whalefall popcorn bucket story.
Our Take: This was brilliant marketing, and here is why it works. Whalefall is an intense pitch. A guy gets swallowed alive and has an hour to live. Instead of selling that fear, 20th Century gave the villain a personality and made it the one who feels wronged. Every joke comes straight from the movie itself, the hour of oxygen, the father and son story, the trailer, so people laugh and learn what Whalefall is about at the same time. It also makes the popcorn bucket funnier. After two rounds of the whale pleading its case, reaching into its belly for popcorn feels like the joke paying off. On a crowded October 16 with Street Fighter and Sense and Sensibility also opening, that kind of personality helps Whalefall stand out.
