WHO’S IN IT?
Chris Hemsworth (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders), Tom Holland (The Impossible), Brendan Gleeson (Calvary), Ben Whishaw (Spectre), Michelle Fairley (Philomena), Gary Beadle (Until Death), Frank Dillane (Harry Potter), Charlotte Riley (Edge of Tomorrow), Donald Sumpter (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Brooke Dimmock (film debut)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), director, producer; Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond), writer; Brian Grazer (American Gangster), Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland), Will Ward (Pittsburgh) and Paula Weinstein (Analyze This), producers; Roque Baños (The Machinist), composer; Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire), cinematographer; Daniel P. Hanley (Apollo 13) and Mike Hill (Frost/Nixon), editors
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Upon a meeting with writer Herman Melville (Whishaw), old Thomas Nickerson (Gleeson) recounts the story of how he, as a young man (Holland), was part of the crew of whaling ship Essex, captained by George Pollard Jr (Walker) and first mate Owen Chase (Hemsworth). During their voyage in 1820, the ship is attacked and destroyed by a large bull sperm whale, and the surviving crew is shipwrecked for 90 days at sea, resorting to disturbing measures in order to survive. When chance puts them in the path of the whale once more, the crew decide that they won’t go down without a fight…
IN ONE SENTENCE, WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
Director Ron Howard tells the exciting true story of a crew pitted against a giant sperm whale, which would go on to inspire the classic story of Moby Dick.
