Universal Pictures has hired Water for Elephants screenwriter Richard LaGravenese to pen director Francis Lawrence's adaptation of the Laura Hillenbrand novel Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.

The story follows the plight of Olympic track star Louis Zamperini, who was captured during World War II and held as a POW by the Japanese. Laura Hillenbrand is also behind the novel Seabiscuit, which Universal turned into a hit movie in 2003. Universal tried to make a biopic based on the life of Louis Zamperini way back in 1957, with the late actor Tony Curtis set to star. That project never got off the ground.

Louis Zamperini, himself, is still alive today at 93 years old. The film will not only chronicle his tough life as a POW held against his will by the Japanese Navy, but also his time spent in Berlin as a member of the 1936 US Olympic team. Though he didn't win a medal, he did run his final lap in the games so fast that Adolf Hitler asked to meet with him. It was his strong determination on the track field that kept him alive during his brutal time spent in a Japanese war camp.