You couldn’t read a review of “The Impossible” without reading about Tom Holland’s mature-beyond-his-years performance as the eldest son. Many said he was robbed of an Oscar nod but high-profile offers are a pretty good consolation prize and Holland will be receiving plenty of those. The young British actor has just signed on to Ron Howard’s based-on-true-story whaling picture “In The Heart Of The Sea” opposite Chris Hemsworth. Holland also recently wrapped “How I Live Now” with Saoirse Ronan and the Steven Knight thriller “Locke” with Tom Hardy.
“In The Heart Of The Sea” is a script by “Blood Diamond” writer Charles Leavitt based on the book by Nathaniel Philbrick. More importantly, the book is based on a series of horrific events that took place in 1820 when a sperm whale attacked a ship and the crew was set adrift, eventually cannibalizing each other to survive. Holland will play Young Nickerson, an aspiring young whaleman.
This news means that the film is officially a go since the last we heard was that Howard was only circling the project. With a cast taking shape and a London shoot scheduled for this September the ball really seems to be rolling on this one. Good news for a potentially tough-to-sell movie that took a fairly circuitous route to the start line. [Deadline]