The 2010 explosion on the gigantic Gulf of Mexico oil rig Deepwater Horizon made headlines around the world not only for the immediate tragedy of workers who lost their lives in the accident, but for the wider damage caused to the local environment. A film about the tragedy was pushed into development a couple of years ago and Mark Wahlberg is now in talks to star.
All Is Lost director J.C. Chandor is overseeing the film, which is now likely to feature Wahlberg as the second-in-command on the rig in the 48 hours up leading up to the disaster and the day itself. The behind-the-scenes tale will highlight stories of real-life heroism around the incident, which were not made public at the time but appeared in the script’s source material, the New York Times article Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hour. The paper’s piece chronicled how 11 people were killed and 16 injured when the rig blew.
Chandor is currently looking to kick off filming in either late spring or early summer next year, to give him time to finish his latest, A Most Violent Year, and to prepare to make Deepwater. Wahlberg, last seen in Transformers: Age Of Extinction, will show up in William Monahan’s Mojave as well as** The Gambler** and Seth MacFarlane’s comedy sequel Ted 2, which is shooting now.