Do you remember that crazy pirate thing that happened earlier this year? Well, just in case if you forgot about how truly crazy that news story was, Columbia Pictures is now aiming to bring it to the big screen as they've hired writer Billy Ray ("Breach", "State of Play") to write the screenplay, which will tell the story of Captain Richard Phillips.  More after the jump.

In case if you've forgotten about what happened back in April, it all started when four Somali pirate hijacked Captain Richard Phillips ship.  This hijacking led to Captain Phillips being held hostage, then trying to escape, and some Navy SEALs having to finally go in and rescue him.  It was pretty intense and since Billy Ray will be writing the film, I'm now expecting a solid thriller.

Variety tells us that Columbia picked up the Captain's life rights back in May.  They also optioned the film rights to Captain Phillips' upcoming memoir, "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs and Five Dangerous Days".  The film is currently untitled, but I'm hoping that Columbia goes with this title or at least just "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates".

I think Billy Ray's previous directed films ("Breach", "Shattered Glass") are two of the most overlooked films from the past couple of years so I'm still waiting to see what Ray will choose to direct next. As of right now he's only writing this one but he is also currently writing the film adaptation of "Gears of War", a remake of "Westworld", and "Motorcade". More as we get it.