Angelina Jolie is busy setting up her second directorial outing, Unbroken, and now she’s starting to put together the cast, with Skins star Jack O’Connell playing the lead role of Lou Zamperini, according to Variety.

The film is an adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand’s book about Lou Zamperini, a 1936 Berlin Olympics track star who joined the US Air Force during World War II. When his plane crashed he survived for 47 days at sea, got captured by the Japanese and ended up fighting for his life in a prison camp.

Jolie comments, “I’ve had the privilege of spending a great deal of time with Louie Zamperini, who is a hero of mine, and now – I am proud to say – a dear friend. I am deeply honored to be telling his extraordinary story, and I will do my absolute best to give him the film he deserves. I am grateful to Universal for making this film a priority.”

Joel & Ethan Coen are the latest to take a pass at the script, and they must have done a decent job, as Universal feel they’re close enough to shooting to set a release date of December 25th 2014.