Ron Howard's IN THE HEART OF THE SEA Gets Bumped to Winter 2015

The Hollywood Reporter writes that the release of Oscar winner Ron Howard's IN THE HEART OF THE SEA has been moved to December 11, 2015.

The film was originally set to debut on March 13. Liam Neeson's RUN ALL NIGHT will now premiere that day. This bump pits IN THE HEART OF THE SEA against J.J. Abrams' STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, out on December 18.

Howard directs the action adventure IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, based on Nathaniel Philbrick's best-selling book about the dramatic true journey of the Essex. In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and a nearly human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA reveals the encounter's harrowing aftermath, as the ship's surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the UNTHINKABLE to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.

The movie stars Chris Hemsworth ("The Avengers," "Rush") as the vessel's veteran first mate Owen Chase; Benjamin Walker ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter") as its inexperienced Captain, George Pollard; Cillian Murphy ("The Dark Knight Rises") as second mate Matthew Joy; and Ben Whishaw ("Skyfall") as novelist Herman Melville, whose inquiries into the event 30 years later helped bring the story to light. Tom Holland ("The Impossible") also stars as young seaman Tom Nickerson, and Brendan Gleeson ("Edge of Tomorrow") as the same man, 30 years later. Spanish actor Jordi Mollà ("Riddick") is the captain of another ship, the Archimedes, who tries to warn the Essex of what may lie ahead.