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Paul Greengrass in Talks to Direct Tom Hanks in Somali Pirates Film
by Ethan Anderton
June 2, 2011
Source: Vulture
Back in March we learned Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca, Dana Brunetti and Kevin Spacey, the producing team behind The Social Network, were crafting a big screen adaptation of the story of Captain Richard Phillips, the leader of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama who gave himself up as a hostage to Somali pirates in order to keep his crew safe from the ruthless men. In addition, Tom Hanks was slated to play the heroic captain, but no director was mentioned at the time. Now Vulture reports Paul Greengrass is currently in talks to helm the film which has been titled Maersk Alabama, and is aiming to shoot this fall.
Billy Ray (State of Play) is behind the script for the film based on Phillips' memoir, A Captain's Story: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs and Dangerous Days at Sea, that was optioned by Sony Pictures. The script is apparently what convinced Hanks to do the film in the first place, but before moving on to this film, he'll first shoot Cloud Atlas with the Wachowski siblings. And even though Greengrass is said to be in talks to direct the film, it's not exactly a done deal yet as the director has a few other choices on his plate.
We recently heard he might be interested in an adaptation of The Deep Blue-Goodbye, and Vulture mentions that he could also end up directing a project called Rush, a Formula One racing drama from writer Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/ Nixon). That film follows three-time Formula One champion Niki Lauda and his near-fatal 1976 racing season where he was nearly burned to death after his Ferrari swerved off the track in only the second lap of the German Grand Prix, crashed, and burst into flames. In addition, there's apparently another project on Greengrass' radar, but they were tight-lipped on that one. Honestly, any of these projects sound like good options, I just want Greengrass behind the camera again soon.
7 Comments
1
Any of those sounds great, Loved Greengrass since Bloody sunday
Loser on Jun 2, 2011
2
This would be a perfect movie for Hanks.
Garbonzo_ The Mediocre on Jun 2, 2011
3
I always like when they find those 'ruthless men' and they're malnourished skinny dudes with machine guns. Maybe they should make heroic film about a man that stops the oil companies in those regions polluting rivers so badly that it makes children's skin peel off. Sorry, watching that Tribe trailer got me all 'right on' again, I don't know what came over me. Will the 'bad guys' be 2d characters or will they have a back story?
Crapola on Jun 2, 2011
4
Based on... meaning this will be like Under Siege?
Anonymous on Jun 3, 2011
5
Hanks needs something to display his acting skills again. I enjoyed The Terminal for the most part and Catch Me If You Can, but the last film he did that I really was excited about was Road to Perdition. He's such a fine actor, but Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons were not that impressive. Da Vinci Code felt like he was reading from Cue Cards the whole film. Was that just me? Charlie Wilson's War was good, but felt a bit short and I thought it needed more character development, which surprised me because Mike Nichols is a legend (probably editing room arguments). This could be promising with Greengrass directing. He's the master of intensity, which is what Hanks needs: an intense role.
Quanah on Jun 3, 2011
6
Kdsfjklds on Jun 8, 2011
7
I am a Somalian and i would like to have a role in this movie. Is there a way that i can have a role in this movie? you can contact me by 952-486-8410
Abdi on Nov 4, 2011
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