Posted on 12/06/2006 7:21:12 PM PST by SquirrelKing
Warner Bros. has set "Open Water" director Chris Kentis and producer Laura Lau to handle a movie about the famous events surrounding the survivors of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in World War Two.
Based on Douglas Stanton book "In Harm's Way", the film "Indianapolis" follows the survivors of the ship which was sunk by the Japanese after delivering materials used in the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Floating for five days in the Philippine Sea, the 900 survivors were reduced to 317 by the time of rescue from the shark-infested waters. Variety reports that Kentis will direct and co-write the project with Lau.
The incident was famously spoken of in a monologue by actor Robert Shaw in a scene from 1975's "Jaws" and has previously been adapted into a 1991 TV movie starring "Prison Break" warden actor Stacy Keach.
Warner Bros. previously tried to get a film verion going five years ago with Mel Gibson starring and Barry Levinson directing. Universal has a rival project in development which J.J. Abrams was eyeing to direct.
Kentis says "Indianapolis" will flesh out with backstory on why the ship's distress signal went unheeded, how the survivors were spotted accidentally and how the military made a scapegoat of Captain Charles Butler McVay III who committed suicide in 1968.
We'll see.
"Eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out
and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945."
THAT was such a tragic situation.
My heart goes out to those men and the families they left behind.
"My only fear is that it'll get the "Hollywood Treatment": where heroes-are-losers..."
And they'll get rescued by Islamic "freedom-fighters" no doubt.
Open Water may well have been the worst movie made in the last 50 years. I hope this movie is far better.
Hasn't there already been a couple of movies made on this subject?
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis (Jul-1945) - July 30th, 2003
Good post. Thanks!
Prediction: When all is said and done, this movie will end up having 'ominous parallels' to 'our current disaster in Iraq'.
P.S. And someone in the script will say 'bring it on'...
I was getting ready to ping you to this thread, but you are already here.
Thanks for the Foxhole link; now I don't have to link it. :^)
I really wish the money devoted to that execrable disaster "Pearl Harbor" had been devoted to a good and intelligent remake of "Midway."
I'd rather see something on the Battle of Leyte Gulf than a retelling of the Indianapolis tragedy, too. Not going to happen though.
I agree, that would be cool. The "Battle of Anywhere" might be good if we aren't the losers or victims of war-bond chicken-hawk war-profiteer Dick Cheney lookalikes back home.
Nowadays video games like Medal of Honor and Call of Duty seem to be the only place to find heroic story lines and vivid recreations of WWII battle.
boy I can hardly wait for this movie. A ship sinking and sharks eating up our boys. You couldn't pay me to go to this movie. I guess the Chainsaw Massacre people will like it though.
That monologue by Shaw is one of the greatest moments in movie history. Guys like Shaw filled the screen, while today's "stars" lack the gravitas to make a dent on film...
Swim call in the Navy was a lot more popular before "Jaws".
"You call that scar? That's not a scar. Now THIS is a scar."
Open Water was pretty depressing and not very good. And I predicated the ending!
The date is wrong (hate to admit that, since I love the movie)...
The Indianapolis was hit on July 30th, due into port on July 30, the search plane spotted them on August 2, and rescue operations didn't cease until August 8.
Oops! My turn for a wrong date... she was due into Leyte on the 31st of July...
You are correct! [great pic]
We'll just see who the teacher's pet is now!
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