William Hurt and Ethan Hawke Join Moby Dick

William Hurt will portray the megamaniacal, peg-legged captain of the whaler Pequod and Ethan Hawke is set to play Starbuck in the upcoming Teutonic miniseries retelling of Moby Dick.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the miniseries is based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel, and is being produced by Herbert Kloiber's Tele Munchen and is being called the most expensive project in the German company's 40-year history. The budget is clocking at $25 million.

"We are delighted to have signed up two such powerful, charismatic and versatile actors as William Hurt and Ethan Hawke for the lead roles," Kloiber said.

Also back on board for the screen adaptation of the Melville classic is Sea Wolf director Mike Barker and script writer Nigel Williams, who penned the TV series Elizabeth I.

Shooting begins in Lunenburg on the east coast of Canada in mid September and continues thereafter in Malta. The project envisions CGI animation as well as action scenes on the high seas.

The mini will wrap in fall 2010.


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Comments (6)

  1. shunsu

    Actually we have friends that work on this movie and i think you'll find they are filming at both locations at the same time. In all honesty i suspect the shooting will be about 50/50 but really ... who cares? If its filmed all in Shel. or Lun. how does it effect your life? Is that your 15 minutes of fame ... twice removed?

    2 years agoby @shunsuFlag

  2. simono

    They have done some shooting in Lunenburg but the main shooting is in shelburne, as you may know. It is being done at Seacoast studios in Shelburne.

    The cast is also made up of a few extra stars not mentioned in this article: Gillian Anderson (X-Files), Charlie Cox (Stardust) and Donald Sutherland.

    Lunenburg somehow appears to have positioned itself as the main location on PR, but it's entirely inaccurate. Shelburne is Nantucket and the studio here is also home of the fiber glass whales amongst other things such as a recreation of Nantucket (complete with church) on Dock Street.

    I am not sure why Shelburne isn't credited, especially as percentage wise it's the joint main location aswell as the 'home base' for all the actors and crew.

    2 years agoby @simonoFlag

  3. seadog

    simono....they are setting up in Lunenburg now (which is spelled with a "u", not an "e".

    2 years agoby @seadogFlag

  4. simono

    Just to correct you: The movie is actually in Shelburne Nova Scotia, not Lunenberg. That's a 150km difference. They are in our town at the moment and the cast is really pumped for this movie, as is our town

    2 years agoby @simonoFlag

  5. Vanboy

    I'm tired of all the damn miniseries crap with this story. They've already had a million TV movies already, from Gregory Peck to Patrick Stewart. Put the friggin' money into it, and make it a box office release like it deserves.

    2 years agoby @vanboyFlag

  6. Mutant

    Arr, another sea filled adventure.

    2 years agoby @zenderFlag

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