Years before Cillian Murphy won an Oscar for Oppenheimer and Tom Holland’s Marvel movies broke box office records, the two renowned actors starred together in In the Heart of the Sea, which is now streaming on Netflix. The 2015 historical adventure film featured many other notable stars. However, Murphy and Holland are undoubtedly two of the most in-demand actors in 2025, with Murphy coming off his Academy Award win for Best Actor and Holland’s everlasting success with Spider-Man and beyond.

Now, Murphy is set to return for 28 Years Later, the third film in the 28 Days Later series, as an executive producer (and possibly onscreen as his character, Jim). Murphy will also reprise his iconic Peaky Blinders role in The Immortal Man, a continuation of the BBC show. Meanwhile, Holland is among the star-studded cast of Christopher Nolan’s next movie, an adaptation of The Odyssey. And Holland will return in the upcoming untitled fourth Spider-Man film. But if fans want to look back on the actors’ careers, the one movie Murphy and Holland did together is on Netflix as of January 1, 2025.

In The Heart Of The Sea Is About The Real 1820 Whaling Ship Sinking That Inspired Moby Dick

The 2015 Film Is Based On Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 Non-Fiction Book

Cillian Murphy and Tom Holland’s In the Heart of the Sea tells the true story of the sinking of the Essex, an American whaling ship, in 1820, which is what partly inspired Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick. Murphy stars as Matthew Joy, the ship’s second mate, while Holland plays Thomas Nickerson, the Essex‘s cabin boy. Both characters are based on real people who were on the Essex when a whale rammed into it, damaging it to the point where it inevitably sunk.

The Essex set sail from Nantucket in August 1819 on what was supposed to be a two-and-a-half-year voyage to hunt whales. However, a whale attacked the boat more than a year into the journey. On November 20, 1820, the Essex was about 2,000 miles west of Ecuador when the whale rammed repeatedly into the ship, resulting in its sinking. The survivors made do with the wreckage, retreated to smaller whaling boats, and attempted to sail towards the nearest land. Unfortunately, their mission wasn’t very successful.

Much happened during the three months after the Essex sank, when the survivors tried to stay alive, and it’s all documented in In the Heart of the Sea. The true story also partly inspired Melville to write his acclaimed novel Moby-Dick. In the book, a sailor, Ishmael, recounts the mission of Captain Ahab, who seeks vengeance against Moby Dick, a whale that maimed him on his previous voyage.

In The Heart Of The Sea Is One Of Tom Holland’s Best Early Performances Before Spider-Man

The historical adventure drama film In the Heart of the Sea premiered six months before Tom Holland made his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut in Captain America: Civil War. Obviously, Holland’s breakout role is as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. However, he had a couple of impressive performances before joining the MCU, like his role as young Thomas Nickerson in In the Heart of the Sea in 2015 (and as Lucas in the 2012 disaster film The Impossible).

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Ron Howard’s movie In the Heart of the Sea didn’t receive the best reviews at the time of its release (it has a 42 percent Rotten Tomatoes score). However, critics still praised the cast’s performances, including Holland’s. Even though Holland wasn’t the star he is now, many applauded the young actor for his talent on the screen, acting opposite a couple of bigger names. Ultimately, In the Heart of the Sea showcased Holland’s acting chops before people started recognizing him for playing Spider-Man in the MCU.

In The Heart Of The Sea’s Netflix Release Gives It A Great Chance To Redeem Its 2015 Box Office Failure

The Film Only Grossed $94 Million At The Box Office

As briefly mentioned above, In the Heart of the Sea wasn’t exactly a hit among critics as many had mixed feelings about it. However, the 2015 movie was also a failure at the box office. In the Heart of the Sea only grossed a little over $94 million against a budget of $100 million, officially making it a box office bomb despite featuring a stellar cast and a familiar story.

While In the Heart of the Sea didn’t premiere the same week as some heavy hitters, it was surrounded by them, which perhaps contributed to its box office disappointment. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was released on November 20, 2015, three weeks before the historical adventure film debuted. Plus, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (one of the highest-grossing movies of all time) premiered one week after In the Heart of the Sea, meaning it had a lot of competition while in theaters.

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Based on the real-life event that inspired Moby Dick, In the Heart of the Sea is directed by Ron Howard and stars Chris Hemsworth as Owen Chase, first mate of the whaling ship Essex who must fight for his life in the middle of the ocean when a whale destroys his ship, killing most of his crew and stranding him and a few survivors on a lifeboat. Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson also star. 

Release Date

December 11, 2015

Runtime

121minutes

Writers

Charles Leavitt

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

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Source: Rotten Tomatoes