Saturday, February 18, 2012

Paul Greengrass Next Is 'Captain Phillips' With Tom Hanks

After a few false starts Paul Greengrass is finally back on track and ready to get the cameras rolling on 'Captain Phillips' the dramatisation of the 2008 Maersk Alabama hijacking with Tom Hanks set to star as the ship's American skipper, Capt. Richard Phillips.

Phillips was the skipper of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama who gave himself up as a hostage to Somali pirates to keep his crew from having to leave the ship with them. After three days of being held hostage alone with the armed pirates in a small lifeboat, Phillips was saved by Navy SEALs who staged a dramatic rescue that left the captain unharmed, three captors dead and another in custody. The film is based on Phillips’ memoir A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, which was published last year by Hyperion.

Sony Pictures’ The Social Network team of Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca, Dana Brunetti and Kevin Spacey are producing. Hanks signed on in March after sparking to a script written by Billy Ray.