Tom Hanks is ready to take on his next assignment—the Somali pirates.

Sony Pictures Entertainment will be making a film based on Richard Phillips, the captain of the cargo ship Maersk Alabama. Hanks will play the lead role of the captain of the ship.

In 2009, the Maersk Alabama was hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Somalia. Captain Phillips was captured and taken off the ship as a hostage. A few days later, Phillips was rescued with the assistance of the U.S. Navy Seals. The snipers killed the three pirates on the lifeboat with a simultaneous volley of three shots. A fourth pirate was captured aboard USS Bainbridge, who was negotiating for a ransom.

Sony Pictures optioned the movie rights to develop the film based on Phillips’ memoir called, “A Captain’s Day: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea.” The book was published last year by Hyperion.

The producers will be Scott Rudin (“No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood”), Michael De Luca (“American History X,” “The Social Network”), Dana Brunetti (“The Social Network,” “21”) and Kevin Spacey (“Social Network,” “21”).

The script draft was submitted by Billy Ray (“The Hunger Games,” “Color of Night”).

It is not known when the project will begin production.

It sounds like another award winning opportunity for this film with a great actor, a good scriptwriter and with the producing team from the “The Social Network.” Now we’ll wait on who might be named as the director of this great story.

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