The tragic tale of the sinking of the **USS Indianapolis **in World War Two and the shark-infested waters that the survivors found themselves in has endlessly fascinated filmmakers and studios, who have been trying to get the story on screen for years. Now Robert Downey Jr and producing partner/wife Susan Downey are giving it a shot.
As most famously chronicled by Robert Shaw’s Quint in Steven Spielberg's Jaws, Japanese torpedoes sank the Indianapolis in July 1945. Approximately 300 of the 1,196 crew went down with the ship and the remaining 880 faced dehydration, exposure and shark attacks while awaiting rescue. Only 321 were ultimately plucked from the water, and of those just 316 survived.
Warner Bros. has once more nabbed the life rights to Hunter Scott, the 11-year-old lad who in 1996 was inspired by Spielberg's shark pic to write a report about the vessel and her ill-fated crew for a History Day competition. His research ended up vindicating captain Charles McVay, who had been court-martialled over the incident and committed suicide in 1968. Scott testified before Congress in 2000 and in 2001, the US Navy amended McVay’s record.
Team Downey has hired Robert Schenkkan to write the script, picking him for his experience working on HBO miniseries The Pacific. He’ll focus on Scott’s story rather than the sinking itself.
We wish them good luck, as the Indianapolis story has been notoriously difficult to get to the screen. Warners tried at least once in 2006 and JJ Abrams wrote a draft back in 2005, only to see the project sink into turnaround at Universal…