A few years ago my wife recommended that I read Nathaniel Philbrick's non-fiction book, "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex". Its an amazing read and tells the harrowing true story that inspired Hermen Melville's, "Moby Dick". If I ran a major Hollywood Studio I'd greenlight this movie in a heartbeat and would try to get Ridley Scott, Philip Kaufmann or Peter Weir to take on the project.
The PBS program "American Experience" aired some incredible television this week with their telling of the history of American whaling.
Click on the image to watch the episode online.