You’d be forgiven for thinking that In The Heart Of The Sea has had the longest marketing campaign in the history of film. It certainly feels that way, with Warner Bros having begun to promote the movie some time ago – planning for a March 2015 release. However, such was the excitement about the project that the studio then took the bold step of delaying that release until December 11th. The result of this move has been two-fold: heightened anticipation, and many more trailers.
Now, though, we have a trailer that is absolutely, definitely the final one – or at least, so says Warner Bros. This preview certainly feels longer and, although it contains much footage that has already been seen in previous trailers, this one gives the impression of having a wider scope – perhaps indicating the greater passage of time through the movie, and better illustrating the growth of the whale-based obsession for the lead, played by Chris Hemsworth.
In The Heart Of The Sea is directed by Ron Howard, from a script by Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond), Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (both of Jurassic World fame) – and is based upon In The Heart Of The Sea: The Tragedy Of The Whaleship Essex, by Nathan Philbrick.
In addition to Hemsworth, the cast features Brendan Gleeson, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy and Ben Whishaw. It seems from the preview footage that each performer is pouring everything they have into their respective roles which, along with the epic scale created by Ron Howard, may account for the release shift that moved In The Heart Of The Sea into the heart of awards season.