Actor Matt Lanter has been cast as the second lead opposite Nicolas Cage in the film "USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage", based on the true story of the American warship sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea in the closing weeks of World War II.
900 crewmen survived, but were left stranded in shark-infested waters. With the Navy unaware the ship had been lost, the sailors awaited rescue for more than three days.
Nearly 600 of the survivors died before help arrived as they were picked off one at a time by sharks.
Lanter, 32, will play Chief Petty Officer Brian 'Bama' Smithwick A US Navy Diver from the Gulf Coast, reported Deadline.
"USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage" is directed by Mario Van Peebles and written by Cam Cannon and Richard Rionda Del Castro. Shooting starts June 2015 in Mobile, Alabama.
