Sony Pictures has cast Tom Hanks as Captain Richard Phillips in an adaptation of his book, A Captain's Duty. Billy Ray (State of Play) adapted the best-selling book, which was published last year.

In April 2009, Richard Phillips' ship, the Maersk Alabama, was taken over by Somalian pirates, and the captain heroically offered himself as a hostage, so the pirates wouldn't harm his crew. After three days being held hostage, Navy SEALS rescued the captain after taking out his captors via sniper fire.

Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca, Kevin Spacey, and Dana Brunetti will produce the drama. All four producers were behind the Oscar-nominated Facebook drama The Social Network.

No production schedule was revealed for the project.