Walt Disney Pictures has grabbed the rights to the 2009 novel The Finest Hours, written by Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias.

The story follows a daring Cape Cod rescue by the Coast Guard in 1952, which saw two oil tankers torn in half by treacherous waves during a blizzard. There were four rescue attempts in all, two of which saw a handful of men attempting to rescue the 84 trapped sailors via two old, wooden motorized lifeboats.

The Fighter scribes Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson have been hired to write the screenplay, which will be produced by that film's Jim Whitaker and Dorothy Aufiero.