The cinematic experience of being swallowed by a sperm whale appears to be a tough sell, as Brian Duffield's new survival thriller, Englouti, starring Austin Abrams, has delivered a truly dismal performance at the box office. According to reports from Ecran Large, the film's debut has fallen far short of expectations, casting a shadow over what was hoped to be another success for its lead actor.

Austin Abrams, who recently enjoyed a massive hit with the latest Resident Evil adaptation – a film that has already soared past $360 million globally – has found himself in a very different position with Englouti. While Resident Evil continues its impressive run, Englouti barely registered a ripple in its opening weekend, suggesting audiences weren't quite ready for a deep-sea, internal-organ-escape narrative.

In North America, Englouti managed to pull in a mere $8 million, significantly below its modest $11 million projection. This places it well behind other new releases, including Street Fighter's $31 million and even Other Mommy, a film in its second week, which despite a steep 70% drop, still earned $8.3 million. To put this into perspective, Resident Evil earned $60 million in its opening weekend and was still pulling in $22 million globally in its fifth week, a figure that Englouti couldn't match worldwide on its debut.

The film's global tally reached only $17 million, a figure that is particularly concerning when considering its substantial production budget. Englouti reportedly cost 20th Century Studios $60 million to make, excluding marketing and distribution costs. This places it in a challenging position where it needs to earn roughly double its budget just to break even, a feat that now seems highly improbable given its weak start.

Comparatively, other recent genre films with lower budgets, such as Barbare ($10 million opening), Obsession ($17 million), Send Help ($19 million), and Insidious 6 ($25 million), achieved more robust openings. Even Backrooms, which opened with $80 million and is eyeing a $400 million total, highlights the vast chasm in performance. The high budget for Englouti, more akin to blockbusters like Mortal Kombat II ($80 million) or Street Fighter ($82 million), makes its underperformance even more pronounced.

This outcome poses a significant challenge for 20th Century Studios, now under the Disney umbrella. It raises questions about release strategy, especially considering director Brian Duffield's previous film, the critically acclaimed alien invasion flick Traquée, went straight to Disney+ in 2023. The disastrous theatrical run of Englouti might lead the studio to reconsider its distribution approach for similar projects in the future, possibly opting for a streaming-first model to mitigate financial risks.