Movies based on real world events take on an extra level of interest since most people are familiar (if the real events are big news issues) with the “source material” as it were. Getting an insight into those events (not that films stay 100% accurate to the real events) and seeing them from an entirely new perspective than that of the evening news can be compelling to watch.
So it is with the recent events with those pesky Somali pirates. The Hollywood Reporter says that Kevin Spacey and a group of others have acquired the rights to produce a film about the incident:
Columbia Pictures has picked up the life story rights of Richard Phillips, the captain of the ship captured by Somalis and later rescued by the U.S. Navy, with the aim to develop a feature film to be produced by Scott Rudin, Michael DeLuca, Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti.
No writer is on board, but the film will retell the story of the captain of the trading vessel Maersk Alabama who, in order to save his crew, surrendered himself to Somali pirates after his ship was hijacked. The standoff, which commanded worldwide attention, tested the strength of Phillips and his crew as well as the resolve of the Navy commanders and President Barack Obama to bring Captain Phillips home alive. Columbia president Doug Belgrad and Elizabeth Cantillon will oversee the project for the studio.
Sign me up… I’d be interested in seeing this.
