Captain Phillips is a 2013 American biographical thriller film directed by Paul Greengrass, based on the 2009 book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea" by Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty. The film stars Tom Hanks as Captain Richard Phillips, a veteran merchant mariner who finds himself at the center of a global crisis when his ship is hijacked by Somali pirates.