It does occasionally happen that two movies about the same subject land in the same year, though not normally quite so close. But looking to avoid the wake of The Mercy is Crowhurst. Check out the trailer for the psychological thriller.
Though it takes a slightly different tack to the Colin Firth-starring drama, the bones of the story, as you might expect, remain the same. In 1968, amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst (here played by Justin Salinger) entered a Sunday Times-sponsored round-the-world yacht race, in which competitors would single-handedly circumnavigate the world’s oceans. Realising he had no hope of winning (or perhaps even of surviving), he decided to fake the whole enterprise to save face and protect his investments: planning to appear to come in last, but at least to have completed the arduous journey. Circumstances, however, conspired to make him appear the winner, meaning his logbooks would be carefully scrutinised. As his situation grew more untenable, his unlikely story spiralled into mental breakdown and tragedy.
Simon Rumley called the shots for this version, with Michael Riley as the film's producer, and we talked to them about the movie recently. Crowhurst is now in cinemas.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.