Zachary Levi will play a non-fictional character in Not Without Hope. Billed as a survival thriller, Levi is said to play a lead role. It is a true story based on Jere Longman’s eponymous New York Times best-selling novel.

According to reports, Levi will play Nick Schuyler, who is part of the friends group which includes Will Bleakley, and NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith. They are set out on a day trip from Clearwater, Florida to their favorite fishing port 70 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. And they encounter a brutal storm and subsequently Schuyler becomes the only survivor. It’s about a story of chances of survival, rescue efforts, and the everything in between the scary situation. 

Joe Carnahann will be writing, directing and producing the film. According to Collider, speaking about making the film, Carnahan said, “Nick Schuyler’s grueling trial at sea and his ultimate survival is a deeply inspiring tale of determination and perseverance but we have a much greater responsibility with this movie as it will hopefully serve as a lasting memorial to the men who lost their lives alongside him during that terrible ordeal. We have to honor their final sacrifice and never lose sight of the larger moral obligation we have as filmmakers with Not Without Hope.”