| Wednesday 12th January, 2005 |
| ALIAS ABRAMS SETS SAIL WITH 1945 SINKING OF USS INDIANAPOLIS |
| Maniacally busy TV producer J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Alias") is attached to direct "The Good Sailor," a Universal Pictures drama about the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis. |
The heavy cruiser was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea. Hundreds went down with the ship, but about 900 sailors were left in shark-infested waters.
The ship was never missed, and by the time the survivors were spotted by accident five days later, only 316 remained. The ship's captain, Charles McVay III, was later court-martialed for the incident, the only World War II Navy captain to be court-martialed for losing his ship.
In the late 1990s, Hunter Scott, a seventh-grader from Pensacola, Fla., decided to do a school project on the event after watching "Jaws," in which the incident is recalled in a monologue.
Beginning by contacting survivors, the boy's project generated publicity that led to a re-examination of the incident and McVay's exoneration in 2001 of culpability in the loss of the ship and its crew members.
Combining elements of the past and present, Brent Hanley's ("Holes") script will focus on the 12-year-old boy and his relationship with one of the ship's survivors, whom he forces to deal with the haunting events of 1945.
In addition to his work on the ABC hits "Lost" and "Alias," Abrams is preparing to direct Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible 3" for Paramount Pictures.
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| "This flick is the only thing that's sinking in my career" |
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