After a decade-long hiatus in directing narrative films, 87-year-old William Friedkin will be helming a new updated film version of Herman Wouk’s 1951 novel The Caine Mutiny. To be titled The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, the film is being made for Paramount Global Content Distribution and Showtime. It will be Friedkin’s first narrative film since Killer Joe, which he made in 2011. In 2017, Friedkin directed The Devil and Father Amroth, a documentary about the exorcism of a woman in an Italian village.

The new version will add contemporary references and situations to the story, which was originally set in the WWII era. The action will now center on naval maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf.

An earlier 1954 film starred Humphrey Bogart, and a stage version was directed by Charles Laughton. In 1988, Robert Altman directed a television adaptation of the story.

In the upcoming film, the USS Caine will be depicted involved in a typhoon off the coast of Iran. The “mutiny” transpires when Lieutenant Steve Maryk takes over command of the vessel, arguing that Lieutenant Commander Phillip Francis Queeg was endangering the crew due to mental instability. The action then shifts to the courtroom where, in the ensuing trial, Maryk’s defense attorney leads a spirited defense of his client’s “mutinous” response.

The role of Lieutenant Maryk will be played by Jake Lacy, while that of Lieutenant Commander Queeg will be assumed by Kiefer Sutherland.

Jason Clarke will portray defense attorney Lieutenant Barney Greenwald. Other cast members in supporting roles will include Lance Reddick, Monica Raymond, Griffin Dunne, Elizabeth Anweis, Lewis Pullman, Francois Battiste, and Gabe Kessler.

Friedkin came to prominence half a century ago for directing such iconic films as The French Connection, The Exorcist, Boys in the Band, and Cruising. It is perhaps appropriate that the octogenarian Friedkin should be tackling this project.

Herman Wouk, the author of the original Caine Mutiny novel, died in 2019 just a few days short of his 104th birthday.

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