Chris Hemsworth signs up for In the Heart of the Sea

That Chris Hemsworth is so hot right now.

The actor has landed a leading role in the adaptation of IN THE HEART OF THE SEA. The project was originally set up in 2000 and it’s taken this long to finally get some movement on it. No studio is currently attached, but Dreamworks as well as some others are definitely interested.

The book written by Nathaniel Philbrick is a, “fact-based tale of Nantucket whaling ship the Essex, which was stalked and ultimately destroyed by a sperm whale in 1820. Stranded thousands of miles from home, the crew struggled to survive; they were lost at sea for 90 days. Eight were rescued.” The story inspired Herman Melville to write the classic, Moby Dick.

In the film, Hemsworth will play, “a first mate who was supplanted as captain of the whaling ship by a better connected rival. When the ship was attacked by the sperm whale in the Pacific, he becomes the hero who leads some of them to safety. A total of 20 crewmen, the captain and first mate escaped in small whaling boats. An isolated tropical island was just 1000 miles downwind, but the captain ordered them to head the other way, out of fear of false rumors of flesh eating savages on the island. Because they headed to South America, the boats were stranded. The survivors were ironically forced to become cannibals, casting lots in one ship to see who had to die and who had to execute him to others could eat and survive. That’s part of the tale, but another big part is the depiction of the New England whaling industry of the 1800s, when men risked their lives to chase and harpoon whales for their oil.”