The race to make a movie based on the real-life rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach from a flooded Thailand cave in 2018 has been on almost since the attempt itself. Ron Howard is out in front on the cinema side right now, adding the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton to Thirteen Lives.
Gladiator's William Nicholson wrote the film, which Howard will start shooting this month in Australia and Thailand. It'll chronicle the dramatic attempt to rescue the boys, an operation that cost the life of Thai Navy SEAL Saman Gunan.
Mortensen will be Richard Stanton, who specializes in rescues through the Cave Rescue Organization and the British Cave Rescue Council.
Farrell portrays John Volanthen, a veteran cave diver who specializes in cave exploration and underwater rescue. Edgerton is playing Dr. Richard Harris, an anesthetist and cave diver with over 30 years of experience, who was awarded the “Outstanding Achievement” award at the Australian technical diving conference Oztek, to mark his exceptional contributions to cave diving exploration.
The cast also includes Weir Sukollawat, Thiraphat Sajakul, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Vithaya Pansringarm, Teeradon “James” Supapunpinyo, Nophand Boonyai, Tom Bateman, Paul Gleeson and Lewis Fitz-Gerald.