The movie is based on Phillips memoir
Tom Hanks will star in a movie about the dramatic rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy graduate held captive for five days by Somali pirates in 2009, accordingto the MMA’s website.
The movie is based on Phillips memoir, “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs and Dangerous Days at Sea.”
Hanks will star in the movie as Phillips and actor Kevin Spacey is one of the producers of the Columbia Pictures film.
In April of 2009, Phillips, then the captain of the Maersk Alabama, was taken hostage in a lifeboat by the pirates.
As the drama played out thousands of miles away, media from around the world gathered at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay where Phillips went to school. Phillips was ultimately rescued in an Easter Sunday raid by Navy SEALs.
The ship’s second in command, Shane Murphy, was also a graduate of the maritime college located along the Cape Cod Canal.
While Phillips’ part is already secure, a Boston-based casting company is coming to Mass. Maritime next week to find extras for the movie, according to the school’s website.
The casting company, C.P. Casting of Boston, is looking to cast four men, real merchant marines, in roles that range in age from 25 to 70 years old, the MMA’s website says. For the oldest of the four, the casting company is looking for a “salty old dog.”
Source: Cape Cod Times