Nathaniel Philbrick's 'In the Heart of the Sea' is adapted for the screen by Ron Howard
A movie directed by Ron Howard and starring 鈥�Thor鈥� actor Chris Hemsworth is being adapted from Nathaniel Philbrick鈥檚 nonfiction book 鈥淚n the Heart of the Sea.鈥�
鈥淗eart鈥� was published in 2000 and follows the whaleship Essex, which was attacked by a sperm whale in the South Pacific. The ship鈥檚 crew took to three small boats and stayed on the open ocean for more than 90 days. The real-life story inspired Herman Melville to pen 鈥淢oby-Dick.鈥� 鈥淗eart鈥� won the National Book Award in the nonfiction category and the wrote that 鈥淗eart鈥� is 鈥渁 book that gets in your bones鈥� Philbrick has created an eerie thriller from a centuries old tale鈥� Scrupulously researched and eloquently written鈥� it would have earned Melville's admiration.鈥�
Melville is portrayed by 鈥淪kyfall鈥� actor Ben Whishaw, while Hemsworth plays Essex first mate Owen Chase and Benjamin Walker of 鈥淎braham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter鈥� plays the ship鈥檚 captain, George Pollard. 鈥淗ow I Live Now鈥� actor Tom Holland plays the ship鈥檚 cabin boy during the movie鈥檚 events, while Brendan Gleeson of 鈥淓dge of Tomorrow鈥� plays the older version of the cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, who is telling the story to Melville years later.聽
Hemsworth previously worked with Howard for the 2013 movie 鈥淩ush,鈥� in which he played Formula One driver James Hunt. 鈥淩ush鈥� was nominated for Best Motion Picture 鈥� Drama at the Golden Globes that year and actor Daniel Bruhl was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for his work in the film as well as for a Screen Actors Guild award for Best Supporting Actor.聽
鈥淚t has a lot of action in it, and that's vitally important," Howard said of the movie in an interview with . "But it's also dependent on rich characters and nuanced emotional performances, and those are all aspects of the movie we're also dealing with under great physical duress. Nobody backed away from the challenge. In front of the camera and behind the camera it was, pardon the pun, all hands on deck at all times.鈥澛�
As for creating a movie that takes place on the water, a famously difficult job, Howard said that working on water 鈥渋s everything it's cracked up to be in terms of being an enemy of organized filmmaking everywhere.鈥�
鈥淗eart鈥� is being released this March.
