Misfits actor Osy Ikhile has joined the cast of Ron Howard’s Warner Bros./Village Roadshow big screen adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea, which currently boasts Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, and Brendan Gleeson starring.
The novel tells the tale of the whaleship Essex, which was rammed and sunk by an angry sperm whale, leaving the twenty crew members, drifting in the middle of the South Pacific for more than ninety days in three tiny whaleboats, succumbing to weather, hunger, disease, and ultimately turning to drastic measures in the fight for survival.
This is the second project based on this story that’s currently in the works. Across the pond, announced earlier this year, John Boyega and David Gyasi co-star in a BBC Two feature drama titled The Whale, said to be based on another book, The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by A Whale.
The 90 minute drama is currently in post-production under Alrick Riley’s direction.
Boyega ad Gyasi are part of a cast that includes Charles Furness, Joe Armstrong, Jassa Ahluwalia, Adam Rayner and Jonas Armstrong.
Ron Howard is directing his film from a script penned by Charles Leavitt.
Production will start this fall in London.
