Free Solo directors to helm film on Thai cave rescue

Husband and wife filmmaking duo Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi have been roped in to direct a film about the 2018 rescue of the Wild Boar boys soccer team from a cave in Thailand.

The film will be about the 12 members of the team and their assistant coach, who were trapped 1,000 meters underground by monsoon rains flooding the Tham Luang cave that blocked their way out. More than two weeks passed before all 13 of those trapped were rescued. The rescue effort involved more than 100 divers, representatives from about 100 government agencies, 900 police officers, and 2,000 soldiers.

Dana Brunetti and Matt DelPiano are bankrolling the film under their Cavalry Media banner. Michael De Luca will serve as executive producer, while Wes Tooke of Midway fame will be in charge of screenwriting. 

Interestingly, Chin and Vasarhelyi won the Best Feature Documentary at the 2019 Academy Awards for Free Solo, which was based on climber Alex Honnold as he climbed the vertical rock formation El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.