Colin Firth is set to headline the true submarine disaster thriller, Kursk

A feature film based on the 2000 Kursk submarine disaster is in the works with Variety reporting that Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman: The Secret Service) has signed on for a leading role. Also attached to star in the film, titled Kursk, is Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone, Bullhead). EuropaCorp is developing Kursk and has set Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt, The Celebration) to direct from a script by Saving Private Ryan scribe Robert Rodat. The Oscar nominee will adapt the tale from the 2003 account of the disaster, Robert Moore’s book “A Time to Die: The Untold Story of the Kursk Tragedy.” The book, published by Crown, is officially described as follows:

At 11:28 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2000, high in the Arctic Circle under the roiling surface of the unforgiving Barents Sea, Captain Gennady Lyachin was taking the Kursk, the pride of Russia’s elite Northern Fleet, through the last steps of firing a practice torpedo, part of an elaborate naval exercise. Suddenly, the torpedo exploded in a massive fireball, instantly incinerating all seven men in the submarine’s forward compartment. The horror, however, was just beginning. The full, gripping story of the remarkable drama inside the Kursk and of the desperate rescue efforts has never been told—until now.

In “A Time to Die,” a critically acclaimed best-seller in the United Kingdom, international reporter Robert Moore—who covered the Kursk tragedy from Russia as it happened—draws on exclusive access he obtained to top Russian military figures in telling the inside story of the disaster with the factual depth of the best journalism and the compelling moment-by-moment tension of a thriller. He takes us right down inside the Kursk as two massive explosions—the second measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale—rip through compartment after compartment. Bringing the horror of the explosions vividly to life, he details the agonizing drama of the twenty-three men who survived as they fight against time to be rescued.

Lisa Ellzey will serve as executive producer on the feature film. Check back for updates on the project as they become available.

(Photo Credit: WENN.com)