"Snowden" star Shailene Woodley and "Everest" helmer Baltasar Kormakur team up on a true survival tale "Adrift." Woodley is attached to star in the new hot package with Kormakur attached to direct.
Woodley is rumored to play the titular character Tami Oldham in "Adrift." Her character Oldham and her fiancé, Richard Sharp (not yet cast), are young and in love with their future together. Both are expert sailors who planned to sail the world together, Deadline reported.
According to Variety, "Adrift" is a survival tale with gravity set on the high seas. It is based on the true story of a woman and her fiancé who find themselves in the middle of a massive hurricane after setting sail from Tahiti under brilliant blue skies.
In the plot of "Adrift," Oldham and Sharp sailed directly into a monumental hurricane in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 1500 miles from the nearest land. Strapped in the cabin, Oldham was knocked unconscious. When she woke up, she finds her boat in ruins, the masts missing, the engine, navigational instruments, and radio broken, and her fiancé missing, now lost at sea.
The rest of the story in "Adrift" follows Oldham finding a way to survive an impossible 41-day journey, navigating herself 1500 miles to safety on the Hawaiian shores. She battled the elements and sustained a major head wound, little food or water, and a broken boat.
Aaron and Jordan Kandell penned "Adrift", which is likely to be one of the last big packages to sell before the holiday break. The project will be taken to studios shortly, and a bidding war should follow.
Woodley is represented by UTA and Principato-Young. She was most recently seen in Open Road's "Snowden" and can be next seen in HBO's "Big Little Lies." On the other hand, Kormakur is repped by WME and most recently directed the Icelandic pic "Eiourinn" and had been developing several films prior to attaching himself to "Adrift."
"Adrift" has been pitched as an epic, romantic, uplifting account of how one woman's great love helped her survive long odds. Kormakur who shoots well in outdoor venues, as evidenced by "Everest" and "The Deep," is looking to make the upcoming tale his next directorial outing next spring.
Watch the video about Shailene Woodley on "Snowden," whether she will do next "Divergent" film: