'In The Heart Of The Sea' Trailer: Chris Hemsworth Faces The Real Moby-Dick

Everyone knows the story of Moby-Dick, but fewer may be aware it was inspired by real events. Ron Howard's latest film, In the Heart of the Sea, tells that true tale.

Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, and Cillian Murphy star as crew members aboard the Essex, a 19th century whaleship from Nantucket, Massachusetts. In 1820, the ship was struck by a 80-foot sperm whale. The vessel sank, leaving the crew struggling to survive in the Pacific Ocean. Hit the jump to see the first In the Heart of the Sea trailer.

Also starring are Ben Whishaw as Herman Melville, who wrote Moby-Dick 30 years after the sinking of the Essex; Tom Holland as Tom Nickerson, the youngest member of the crew; and Jordi Mollà as the captain of another ship, who tries to warn the Essex. Nathan Philbrick wrote the 2000 nonfiction book on which the movie was based (which in turn drew from firsthand accounts of the Essex's crew).

In the Heart of the Sea sails into theaters March 13, 2015.

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story.

"In the Heart of the Sea" reveals the encounter's harrowing aftermath, as the ship's surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.