It looks like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy should get the life preservers out. According to Entertainment Weekly, both actors have signed on for roles in The Boat That Rocked. They join a cast that already includes Kenneth Branagh, Rhys Ifans and January Jones.

Richard Curtis is writing and directing this film that's based off a true story. Hoffman is set to play the lead as DJ The Count, who started up a pirate radio station from a boat, at a time in the '60s when the BBC only played two hours of pop music per week. It's unclear what Nighy's role in the picture will be, or that of the other co-stars.

Principal photography is set to begin in London on March 3.