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There's news today on not one but two different Moby Dick movies in development.
First, Deadline reports that Thor's Chris Hemsworth is attached to star in the fact-based tale In the Heart of the Sea, based on Nathaniel Philbrick's book about the ill-fated whaleship Essex. The ship left Nantucket for the South Pacific in 1819, where it was attacked by an angry sperm whale. But it was what transpired after that -- when the survivors were adrift at sea for months and resorted to cannibalism -- that is just as frightening as the attack that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick.
Deadline says Hemsworth is up for the role of the first mate. Blood Diamond's Charles Leavitt penned the script, and DreamWorks is interested in distributing it. Martin Scorsese had once eyed directing the film with Daniel Day-Lewis starring.
Meanwhile, Variety says Universal has hired Contraband's Aaron Guzikowski to rewrite their adaptation of Moby Dick for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov. The trade claims this version's Captain Ahab will be "depicted as more charismatic, rather than just hell-bent on revenge."
