Garret Dillahunt, Tom Felton, And Jake Abel Set To Star In WWII Thriller "Ghosts of the Pacific"

LOS ANGELES, April 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Garret Dillahunt ("Raising Hope"), Tom Felton (Harry Potter), and Jake Abel (The Host) are set to star in Ghosts of the Pacific, the true story of three WWII Navy flyers cast adrift on the South Pacific in 1942. The feature will be produced by The American Film Company, which specializes in making movies based on true stories from America's past.

Producer and American Film Co. president Brian Falk will be making his directorial debut recounting the incredible journey of pilot Harold Dixon (Dillahunt), bombardier Tony Pastula (Felton), and radioman Gene Aldrich (Abel) – virtual strangers assigned to a scouting mission on January 16, 1942. When they are forced to ditch their plane, the men are left with no food, water, or supplies; only a 4x8-foot yellow life raft to keep them afloat on a dangerous ocean.

Written by Mark David Keegan and Falk, Ghosts is being produced by Falk and Mark Moran (Struck by Lightning, Beautiful Boy). Kurt Graver will co-produce. The American Film Company founder and CEO Joe Ricketts is the Executive Producer.

"I've always been attracted to true stories that showcase ordinary people in extraordinary situations," said Ricketts. "The men in Ghosts of the Pacific faced seemingly insurmountable odds and yet they never gave up. They were America's first heroes of the Pacific war."

Ghosts of the Pacific is scheduled to commence principal photography April 15 at Baja Studios in Rosarito, Mexico. The facility houses the largest outdoor water tank in the world, built for James Cameron's Titanic.

Garret Dillahunt is currently starring on the hit Fox series "Raising Hope" and will co-star in the upcoming feature film 12 Years A Slave starring Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender. Recent film credits include Any Day Now starring opposite Alan Cumming and directed by Travis Fine, and Looper with Emily Blunt, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Bruce Willis. Last year he starred, and received a Genie nomination as the title character, "Oliver Sherman," in Ryan Redford's directorial debut opposite Molly Parker and Donal Logue. Additionally, he co-starred in the critically acclaimed Winter's Bone, which earned him and the rest of the cast Best Ensemble at the Gotham Awards; the Coen Brothers Oscar-winning drama, No Country For Old Men, opposite Tommy Lee Jones; and The Assassination of Jesse James, opposite Brad Pitt. 

Tom Felton is best known to audiences for playing 'Draco Malfoy,' Harry Potter's nemesis in the Harry Potter franchise, a role that yielded him the MTV Movie Award for "Best Villain" two years in a row. Most recently he wrapped the male lead in the feature Therese Raquin (directed by Charlie Stratton) opposite Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, and Jessica Lange. Prior to that, Felton starred in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (directed by Rupert Wyatt) alongside James Franco, Freida Pinto, and John Lithgow, the Warner Bros. film The Apparition (directed by Todd Lincoln) alongside Ashley Greene and Sebastian Stan, and the independent feature From The Rough (directed by Pierre Bagley) starring with Taraji P. Henson. Additionally, Felton recently shot the miniseries "Labyrinth" for Ridley and Tony Scott alongside John Hurt.

Jake Abel is currently starring in Open Road Films' The Host, a science fiction thriller directed by Andrew Niccol and adapted from Stephenie Meyers' (Twilight) bestselling novel of the same name. Abel will next star in 20th Century Fox's Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the second film in the Percy Jackson series, directed by Thor Freudenthal. Abel's past film credits include Strange Wilderness, Flash of Genius, The Lovely Bones, and I am Number Four.

Writer-Director Brian Falk produced The Conspirator directed by Robert Redford and is an Executive Producer of Parkland, due for release this fall. Prior to film, he spent 15 years writing, directing, and producing news magazines, documentaries, and television series for a wide variety of outlets including PBS, NBC, TLC, Fox, Court TV, Lifetime, and the Food Network.  During those years, he covered the 1994 war in Rwanda, refugee emergencies in the former Zaire and southern Sudan, earthquakes in Taiwan and El Salvador, and developing-world crises in Nepal, Ghana, Guatemala, and elsewhere. He is currently the president of The American Film Company, based in Santa Monica.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN FILM COMPANY

Founded by entrepreneur Joe Ricketts in 2008, The American Film Company is dedicated to making films about true stories from American history. The company's last feature, The Conspirator, starred James McAvoy and Robin Wright and was directed by Robert Redford. The company is also producing the upcoming Parkland with Playtone and Exclusive Media.

For more information about The American Film Company and its projects, please visit www.theamericanfilmcompany.com.

SOURCE The American Film Company