The Movie, also Starring Sadie Sink, is the Latest Filmed in the County
ORANGE COUNTY, N.Y. (Dec. 21, 2022) – The movie The Whale, marking acclaimed actor Brendan Fraser’s return with a performance gaining Oscar buzz, was filmed largely in Orange County, N.Y. Scenes of the $3 million feature were shot at Umbra Stages in Newburgh, N.Y., making it one of several current and upcoming movies and television shows filmed at least partly in Orange County.
Fraser has been garnering Oscar talk and extended standing ovations at film festivals for his portrayal of a reclusive English teacher, suffering from severe obesity, who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenaged daughter. Sadie Sink, who plays the daughter, is a fan favorite from the Netflix hit Stranger Things, in which she plays hard-edged high schooler Max Mayfield.
The Whale used Umbra’s stage 4, an 18,000-square-foot drive-on sound stage.
“We were so honored to have had The Whale at Umbra Stages,” said Tony Glazer, an Umbra managing partner. “It is a special film and we were so thrilled to be a part of it.”
With a budget of $3 million, the film was directed by Darren Aronofsky, whose movies include Black Swan and The Wrestler. It was written by Samuel D. Hunter and also stars Ty Simpkins, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Sathya Sridharan and Jacey Sink.
“Filmmakers are discovering a home away from home in Orange County, N.Y.,” said Orange County Tourism & Film Director Amanda Dana. “With so many movie-ready mountains, farms, waterfronts and streetscapes, plus state-of-the-art Umbra Stages, all just an hour from New York City, Orange County is always ready for its close-up. And our office makes it easy for them. Production companies, crews and movie stars are discovering what so many other visitors have – that Orange County is a great place to spend a day, enjoy a weekend, or maximize the time it takes to finish filming a movie.”
Other Hudson Valley locations for The Whale include the Shawangunk Mountains and an aerial shot of Beacon, N.Y.
When released earlier this month on six screens in New York City and Los Angeles, The Whale made $60,000 per screen, the largest per-screen average of the year for a limited release, according to Deadline and Screen Rant. That record beat out the $50,000-per-screen limited release of Everything Everywhere All at Once, which went on to become the highest grossing film ever for A24, the studio that also released The Whale, according to Screen Rant.
Fraser explained the movie’s allure in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s about a man whose superpower is to see the good in others and bring that out in them,” Fraser told the outlet. “We could use more of that in the world right now.”
The Whale came out in general release on Tuesday, Dec. 20.
Other movies and series filmed at least partly in Orange County include:
• A Holiday Spectacular, a just-released Hallmark Channel feature about a woman in the 1958 who puts her wedding on hold to follow her secret dream of dancing in the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.
• Poker Face, a murder-mystery limited series starring Natasha Lyonne, to debut on Peacock on Jan. 26, 2023.
• The White House Plumbers, a miniseries about how President Nixon operatives E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy masterminded Watergate and accidentally toppled the president they were trying to protect. It will premiere on HBO in March, 2023.
• Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, a movie about Roger Sharpe, who successfully advocated to lift New York City’s ban on pinball in 1976. The fan favorite has won multiple film festival awards. It is scheduled for theatrical release on March 17, 2023.
About Orange County Tourism & Film
Orange County Tourism & Film, based in Goshen, N.Y., is the county’s tourism and film production headquarters and a participant in the I LOVE NY program. A comprehensive listing of area attractions, lodging, events and film resources can be found at www.OrangeTourism.org. Additionally, a fun, free, 56-page travel guide is available for digital download at orangetourism.org/travel-guide/.
About the Orange County New York Film Office
The film office represents the Orange County, N.Y. region to incoming and potential film productions and operates as an arm of Orange County Tourism. Among its services, the Film Office acts as a liaison between the film industry and government agencies in Orange County, helping to set up contacts within its municipalities and streamlining paperwork to help filmmakers who want to bring their productions to Orange County. Other incentivizing services provided by the Film Office include location support; permit assistance; crew and resource referrals; casting and crew call support. Additionally, the office assists productions with the New York State Film Tax Credit Program, the nation’s most stable and successful production and post-production tax credits – as much as 35% on labor and qualifying post-production projects to productions who bring their business to Orange County, N.Y. Learn more
Photo: Brendan Fraser in The Whale. Credit: Courtesy of A24
