Oscar winner (The Gladiator) and twice-Oscar-nominated (A Beautiful Mind, The Insider) actor Russell Crowe is set to star in Saul Dibb’s (The Duchess) In Sand and Blood.

The action-adventure survival drama is based on the true story of a 19th century American merchant ship captain, James Riley, who led his crew to safety across 1,000 miles of the Sahara desert following a shipwreck and capture by Bedouin traders. Riley published his memoirs of the harrowing adventure in 1817.

Ronan Bennett (Public Enemies) and newcomer Daniel Dale will adapt the screenplay from Dean King’s 2004 bestseller, Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival. The film will be financed by IM Global, with Luc Roeg producing. IM Global founder and CEO Stuart Ford and president of production Matt Jackson are executive producing.

Crowe made his directorial debut in last year’s The Water Diviner. He will be seen next in writer-director Shane Black’s (Iron Man 3) mystery-thriller The Nice Guys, along with Ryan Gosling, which will bow on May 20, 2016.