IN THE HEART OF THE SEA first official teaser trailer previews true story of Moby Dick

Ron Howard’s new epic In the Heart of the Sea gets a trailer

While the tale of the fictional killer whale Moby Dick is famous in its many iterations, most people don’t know the true-life story from 1819 of the ship the Essex that Herman Melville’s classic novel used as inspiration. In Ron Howard’s upcoming epic In the Heart of the Sea the adventures of the Essex are being brought to the big screen, and the first trailer for the film sprung out of nowhere this week to blow us all away. The movie looks fantastic.

Watch Chris Hemsworth and crew take on an angry whale in the trailer for In the Heart of the Sea after the jump.

Wow, just wow. It’s been a while since I’ve been excited for a Ron Howard film, and this one looks like it’s going to be an amazing adventure at sea.

Here’s a plot synopsis for In the Heart of the Sea to shed some light on what we’re in for:

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 an almost 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.

In the Heart of the Sea stars Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Michelle Fairley, Tom Holland, Charlotte Riley, Benjamin Walker, Sam Keeley, and Donald Sumpter. The movie makes waves in theaters March 13, 2015.