John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore are set to star in director Ken Kwapis family adventure Whales (previously titled “Everybody Loves Whales”).
The Universal release is the story of three California gray whales who were found trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle in October 1988. The subsequent rescue attempt became a huge global event, as scores of journalists converged on the nearby Eskimo town of Barrow, Alaska, and the U.S. and Soviet government enjoyed a rare moment of collaboration.
The two-week drama played out at a time of geopolitical change, with Mikhail Gorbachev in the midst of his glasnost initiative and Ronald Reagan preparing to leave office after his second term.
In addition to the rescue attempt, Jack Amiel and Michael Begler’s script centers on a love story between a Greenpeace activist (Barrymore) and a journalist (Krasinski).
