William Monahan knows his historical epics. The screenwriter of Kingdom of Heaven has turned his focus to slightly more modern times with The Essex, a naval drama set amid the War of 1812.
The conflict, principally between the UK and US, was fought over trade restrictions but...wake up! There were naval battles aplenty, and the plot of this film focuses on those. The focus is Captain David S. Porter of the US Navy who, at a time when the British ruled the seas, set sail for the Pacific and single-handedly devastated the British whaling fleet there, before finally being hunted by a British squadron dispatched for the task.
The story is set during the same time period as Monahan's long in development Tripoli, which Ridley Scott is still working on. Monahan is in talks to direct this one himself, however, which would make it his second film as director after London Boulevard, which is due out next year.