YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp is developing a “Kursk” movie based on the 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster, in which 118 Russians perished. Armenpress reports, referring to “Variety”, that EuropaCorp has hired Danish director Martin Zandvliet to direct “Kursk” from a script by “Saving Private Ryan” screenwriter Robert Rodat, based on Robert Moore’s book “A Time to Die.”

The Kursk sunk during a Russian naval exercise in the Barents Sea after explosions within the submarine. The Russian government refused help from foreign governments for five days before agreeing to aid from the British and Norwegian governments. The Russian Navy initially asserted that the sinking had been caused by a collision with another vessel but the government eventually admitted that the cause was a torpedo explosion in the submarine.

“Kursk” will be Zandvliet’s first English-language film. The director is repped by WME and Magnolia Entertainment.