PanARMENIAN.Net - Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp has hired Danish director Thomas Vinterberg to direct its “Kursk” movie based on the 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster, in which 118 Russians perished, Variety reports.

EuropaCorp had hired Danish director Martin Zandvliet in August to direct “Kursk” from a script by “Saving Private Ryan” screenwriter Robert Rodat, based on Robert Moore’s book “A Time to Die.” Zandvliet is no longer attached.

The Kursk sunk during a Russian naval exercise in the Barents Sea after explosions within the submarine. The Russian government refused help from foreign governments for five days before agreeing to aid from the British and Norwegian governments.

The Russian Navy initially asserted that the sinking had been caused by a collision with another vessel but the government eventually admitted that the cause was a torpedo explosion in the submarine.

EuropaCorp is developing “Valerian” with Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne starring. Its slate includes “Shut In,” starring Naomi Watts, which will be released Feb. 19; “Nine Lives,” starring Kevin Spacey and Jennifer Garner, slated for April 29; and “The Lake,” starring Sullivan Stapleton and J.K. Simmons, which will hit theaters on July 15.

Vinterberg’s credits include 1998’s “The Celebration,” “The Hunt” and 2015’s adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s “Far From the Madding Crowd,” starring Matthias Schoenaerts and Carey Mulligan.

The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.