Ted Danson and Vinessa Shaw have boarded director Ken Kwapis' Everybody Loves Whales, a Working Title project for Universal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Set in Cold War-era 1988, Everybody Loves Whales tells the true story of a small-town reporter (John Krasinski) and a Greenpeace volunteer (Drew Barrymore) who enlist the help of rival superpowers to save three majestic gray whales trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle.

The film is based on Tom Rose's nonfiction book "Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event."

One of Hollywood best-known environmentalists, Ted Danson plays a win-at-all-costs oilman who has no interest in saving the mammals. Vinessa Shaw plays a White House staffer who wants the government to help the whales.

Kristen Bell and Tim Blake Nelson already have been cast.

Production will begin this month in Alaska.