Tom Hanks to Take on Somali Pirates

What's better than learning that your memoirs are going to be turned into a movie? Finding out you're going to be played by Tom Hanks. Such is the news that greets Captain Richard Philips today.

Philips was the captain of the Maersk Alabama, a ship that was raided by Somali Pirates in 2009. Philips voluntarily gave himself up as a hostage in order to save his crew, and was later rescued by Navy SEALs who killed three of his captors in the process. The ordeal is detailed in Philips' book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and a Dangerous Day at Sea."

According to Deadline, Sony Pictures has not only picked up the movie rights to "A Captain's Duty," they have snagged two-time Best Actor Tom Hanks to portray Philips.

This will be Hanks' first major role since the Dan Brown adaptation "Angels & Demons" in 2009. Screenwriter Billy Ray, who is also adapting "The Hunger Games," is in charge of translating Philips' book to the screen.

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