While his Formula 1 racing drama “Rush” doesn’t surface until the fall, it seems that Ron Howard was impressed with his leading man, as Vulture is reporting that the “Apollo 13” helmer is circling a project that would reunite him with Chris Hemsworth.
Hemsworth originally joined the adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick’s “In The Heart Of Sea” last summer, after it had been languishing in development hell for thirteen years. The story is based on the true events that inspired Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick,” and is about a whaling ship that was stalked and destroyed by a sperm whale, stranding the crew who were lost at sea for ninety days. The crew ends up finding their way to South America where they resort to cannibalism to stay alive.
So, to recap, the film is a period piece set largely on water with some good ol’ fashioned cannibalism thrown in for good measure. It’s no wonder that it’s taken so long and that everyone from Barry Levinson to Ed Zwick have kicked the tires on it as expensive failures like “Waterworld” have seen studios swear off high-seas fare for years. Though Howard recently attached himself to both the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “The Graveyard Book” and the Bad Robot-produced remake “All I’ve Got,” neither project has writers attached, whereas “In The Heart Of Sea” has a script written by “Blood Diamond” scribe Charles Leavitt.
What do you folks think about Howard taking on this material? Will he be the one to finally push it in front of cameras?