The Social Network producing team (including Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca, Dana Brunetti and Kevin Spacey) are reuniting for a film based on the real life Maersk Alabama hijacking in April 2009. Four Somalian pirates boarded the cargo ship and ended up taking Captain Richard Phillips with them. He spent three days alone with the armed pirates in a small lifeboat, after being saved by Navy SEALs.
After Sony Pictured optioned the novel about the situation, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Deadline now reports they have attached Tom Hanks to play Phillips. The latest draft of the script by Billy Ray (State of Play, Breach) is what got Hanks interested. It sounds like a action version of Castaway….with pirates. Depending on the director, there could be strong Oscar potential.
He is currently shooting Stephen Daldry‘s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in New York with Sandra Bullock and has his directing/starring gig Larry Crowne hitting theaters this summer. He is also attached to Kathryn Bigelow‘s Triple Frontier and the live-action family adventure Jungle Cruise with Tim Allen.
Do you think this role is a good fit for Hanks?