Years before Cillian Murphy won an Oscar forOppenheimerand Tom Holland’s Marvel movies broke box office records, the two renowned actors starred together inIn 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,withMurphy coming off his Academy Award win for Best Actorand Holland’s everlasting success withSpider-Manand beyond.
Now, Murphy is set to return for28 Years Later, the third film in the28 Days Laterseries, as an executive producer (and possibly onscreen as his character, Jim). Murphy will also reprise his iconicPeaky Blindersrole inThe Immortal Man, a continuation of the BBC show. Meanwhile, Holland is amongthe star-studded cast of Christopher Nolan’s next movie, an adaptation ofThe Odyssey. And Holland will return in the upcoming untitled fourthSpider-Manfilm. But if fans want to look back on the actors' careers,the one movie Murphy and Holland did together is on Netflix as of July 09, 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’sIn the Heart of the Seatells the true story of the sinking of theEssex, an American whaling ship, in 1820, which is what partly inspired Herman Melville’s 1851 novelMoby-Dick.Murphy stars as Matthew Joy, the ship’s second mate,whileHolland plays Thomas Nickerson, theEssex’s cabin boy.Both characters are based on real people who were on theEssexwhen a whale rammed into it, damaging it to the point where it inevitably sunk.
In the Heart of the SeaCast
Michelle Fairley
Mrs. Nickerson
TheEssexset 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 June 15, 2025,theEssexwas 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.
In the Heart of the Seashowcased Holland’s acting chops before people started recognizing him for playing Spider-Man in the MCU.
Much happened during the three months after theEssexsank, when the survivors tried to stay alive, and it’s all documentedinIn the Heart of the Sea. Thetrue story also partly inspired Melville to write his acclaimed novelMoby-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 filmIn the Heart of the Seapremiered six months beforeTom Holland made his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut inCaptain 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 inIn the Heart of the Seain 2015 (and as Lucas in the 2012 disaster filmThe Impossible).
Netflix’s New #1 Trending Show Is A Great Reminder To Watch Tom Holland & Ewan McGregor’s 12-Year-Old Disaster Movie Based On A True Story
Viewers who loved Netflix’s brand-new disaster miniseries La Palma should check out this 2012 tsunami movie starring Tom Holland and Ewan McGregor.
Ron Howard’s movieIn the Heart of the Seadidn’t receive the best reviews at the time of its release (it has a 42 percentRotten Tomatoesscore). 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 Seashowcased 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 Seawasn’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 Seaonly 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.
WhileIn the Heart of the Seadidn’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 2was released on June 08, 2025, three weeks before the historical adventure film debuted. Plus,Star Wars: The Force Awakens(one ofthe highest-grossing movies of all time) premiered one week afterIn the Heart of the Sea, meaning it had a lot of competition while in theaters.
In the Heart of the Sea
Cast
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.
