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The Finest Hours trailer: Chris Pine will save you, boat size be damned

The Finest Hours trailer: Chris Pine will save you, boat size be damned

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Big waves, bigger hunks, and beefy Boston accents

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Disney

Disney's The Finest Hours - Trailer 1

Take a look at the extraordinary true story of the most daring rescue mission in the history of the Coast Guard. The Finest Hours, starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster, is in theaters January 29. Watch the new trailer now!

Posted by The Finest Hours on Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Disney has a new live-action thriller on the horizon, and its trailer has me reaching for the nearest lifejacket / PFD. The Finest Hours is an adaptation of Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman's 2009 book of the same name, which chronicled the true story of the Coast Guard's 1952 rescue of the SS Pendleton. Craig Gillespie is directing the movie, his first since last year's Jon Hamm baseball vehicle Million Dollar Arm, another Disney feature. Chris Pine is set to star as Captain Bernie Webber, the leader of the rescue expedition, with Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, and Eric Bana in supporting roles.

This is the latest entry on what's become an interesting résumé for Gillespie, one stocked with a wide variety of films. He's directed indie darlings (Lars and the Real Girl), horror played for laughs (his 2011 Fright Night remake), and a prototypical sports movie; this is his first crack at an action tentpole. (He was also attached to Dallas Buyers Club before it ended up an award winner in the hands of Jean-Marc Vallée.)

Gillespie's still waiting on a major box office hit

Those movies were all critically successful — Lars and the Real Girl was particularly acclaimed, earning an Oscar nomination for writing and Golden Globe / SAG nods for Gosling's performance — but none of them became a box office smash. (At $41 million, Fright Night is Gillespie's highest grossing film to date.) They weren't shot and written like blockbusters-in-waiting, either. Lars and the Real Girl was weird, subtle, and touching, but not a fit for wide audiences; Million Dollar Arm was warm and traditional, but more intriguing as a part of Disney's developing international strategy than as a potential sleeper hit.

The Finest Hours looks like Gillespie's safest bet to date, and he and Disney must be hoping the combination of an inspiring story, Pine's emergent star power, and his directorial goodwill turn the movie into an all-around success. From the looks of the trailer, he has plenty to work with here: churning seas, stormy February skies, and some meaty Massachusetts accent work from Pine and his comrades. The Finest Hours is scheduled to hit theaters January 29th, 2016.