Nordling here.
Any JAWS fan worth his salt has always wanted to see the story of the USS Indianapolis done right for the big screen. Of course, there's Quint's famous speech, but it's just a fascinating story in general. Captain Charles McVay was the only ship captain to be court martialed for the loss of his ship and crew, and the loss of the ship haunted him until his suicide in 1968.
Hunter Scott, an 11-year-old boy who, like many of us, learned of the Indianapolis through JAWS, decided in 1996 to fight to exonerate Captain McVay from wrong doing. He succeeded, and in 2000 Congress passed a resolution that exonerated McVay for the ship's loss, which President Bill Clinton signed. Now, according to Hollywood Reporter, Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey want to produce Hunter Scott's story, through Warner Brothers. Robert Schenkkan, writer from HBO's THE PACIFIC, will script the film.
It's a tremendous story, both the sinking of the ship and Scott's efforts to exonerate Captain McVay, and I'd love for the film to not only show Scott's efforts but to also flashback to the sinking as well. But I'm just happy that this story is being tackled at all - we JAWS fans have been inspired by this real-life story of heroism for years, and finally it looks like we're going to see it in some manner on the big screen. Perhaps Downey Jr. is eyeing the role of McVay himself? Wouldn't be bad casting.
Nordling, out.
