Adrift, a spec from Moana writers Aaron and Jordan Kandell is moving closer towards production. The film will soon be acquired by STXfilms, a subdivision of STX Entertainment. They’ve nearly closed a deal to produce and distribute the film with Shailene Woodley (Divergent) attached to portray Tami Oldham, and Iceland’s Baltasar Kormákur (Everest) set to helm the project as director. Kormákur has worked alongside STX Entertainment’s executives before and is reportedly excited to do so again. Having directed 2012’s The Deep (Iceland’s entry in the 85^th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Oscar, as well as a film with essentially the exact same plot), Kormákur should have very little trouble in repeating his success.

Adrift is based upon the true story of Tami Oldham’s 41 days of solitary survival on the open seas; however, loglines have led us to believe that a notable fact has been altered. When Oldham and her fiancé, Richard Sharp, were struck by an onslaught of 40-foot waves while caught in Hurricane Raymond, Sharp was swept out to sea and Oldham was forced to survive alone. That being said, IMDb states that Oldham “sails into the eye of a hurricane to save the man she loves”, and Deadline Hollywood’s description of the film as “Gravity set on the high seas” suggests that Woodley will be accompanied by another actor on her journey back to land. Who that actor might be is unknown at this time.

Woodley will soon appear alongside Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman in the HBO series Big Little Lies.