Warners floats 'Indianapolis'
Kentis, Lau to bring shark tale to theaters
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They will write and Kentis direct "Indianapolis," an adaptation of the Douglas Stanton book "In Harm's Way."
Story concerns WWII's U.S.S. Indianapolis, sunk by a Japanese sub following a secret mission to deliver materials for the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima. The men floated for five days in the Philippine Sea; only 317 of an estimated 900 who abandoned ship were pulled from the shark-infested waters.
Lau, who produced "Open Water," will come aboard to produce with Mark Gordon, Akiva Goldsman and Betsy Beers.
Like many, Kentis learned of the Indianapolis when the tale was chillingly retold in "Jaws."
Warner Bros. has tried several versions -- Mel Gibson almost starred five years ago for director Barry Levinson -- and Universal has a rival project that J.J. Abrams is eyeing based on the story of a youth whose school research project helped force a posthumous reconsideration of the ship's court-martialed captain, Charles McVay. But Kentis and Lau are well positioned to revive the project.
Obsessed by the story of the Indianapolis tragedy for years, Kentis used it as a touchstone for "Open Water," which cost $120,000 and grossed $58.7 million worldwide. One reason he made that film was to show he could handle the Indianapolis project.
"Being a diver and a WWII buff, this is a story that long haunted me," Kentis said. "Open Water" was about "two ordinary people who were oblivious to the dangers of nature until they were caught up in it. This is a story of heroism and selflessness, one that gives us the chance to consider that in a dire situation, you can't predict how people are going to react and who is going to emerge as that heroic figure."
While "Open Water" was told mostly from the in-water vantage point of its stranded protags, Kentis said "Indianapolis" will be fleshed out with backstory on why the ship's distress signal went unheeded, how the survivors were spotted accidentally and how the military made a scapegoat of McVay, who eventually died from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Endeavor reps Kentis and Lau.
