In 1820, an American whaleship, the Essex, was attacked by a sperm whale and sank into the Pacific Ocean. The account inspired one of the most famous novels in English literature: Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. Melville’s novel has been adapted to screen numerous times; now another novel, Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea, a non-fiction retelling of the attack on the Essex is being adapted to screen by Ron Howard. 

The film, which we covered back in July has been in production since September, and, according to Deadline, it now has an official release date: March 13, 2015. Thor star, Chris Hemsworth will feature as the ship’s first mate, with Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) as the captain and Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight series) as the second mate. Village Roadshow Pictures and Imagine Entertainment (the studio that worked with Howard on his John Hunt/Nikki Lauda biopic, Rush) are producing. The film’s scribes include Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, Rush) and Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond).