I’ve envisioned William Hurt as Ahab ever since I saw him in Kiss of the Spider Woman. And now that vision is realized: German production company TMG just announced that its upcoming Moby-Dick miniseries stars Hurt as Ahab and Ethan Hawke as Starbuck. Filming begins shortly in Nova Scotia—where one boatbuilder got the contract for six replica whaleboats—and Malta, where a tall ship has been cast to play the Pequod.
So far, that production sounds fairly faithful to the text; if you’re looking for “Moby Dick as Frankenstein” and whalers who can fly, you’ll have to wait for the planned Moby-Dick action film by Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov.
Then again, if you’re really patient and you really want a break from that tired old storyline, check out this hilarious script for the trailer for Moby-Dick: Ahab’s Revenge, by a blogger called tpalumbi. The film—which, strangely, has not yet been optioned—is envisioned to star Shia LaBeouf as Ishmael, Kate Hudson as his love interest, The Rock as Queequeg, and Jason Statham (known for starring in Guy Ritchie films) as as an Ahab with four steam-powered legs. Well, you know, if you can’t get William Hurt …
Margaret Guroff is the editor and publisher of Power Moby-Dick.
Photo via MSN Movies.
Sea-Fever blog 
Thanks Margaret, really enjoyed reading the article and seeing Gary in costume.
Ms Gagnon: Gary Levert seems to be playing Perth, the ship’s blacksmith. Here is a link to a story about him in The Northern Light.
Anxious to see the series. Gary Levert is my nephew. Would like to know what part he will be playing.