New film in the works will tell story of 2009 boating accident that killed college, NFL players

TAMPA, Fla. - The film "Not Without Hope" will tell the survival story of a former University of South Florida football player who was with three friends when their offshore fishing trip took a tragic turn in February 2009. It's expected to be released in the Fall of next year. 

Nick Schuyler was with another former USF football players William Bleakley, former Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper and Former Tampa Bay Bucaneers player Corey Smith 70 miles out in the Gulf when their anchor got stuck. Rather than cut the line, they gunned the engine which caused the boat to capsize. 

Pictured: Cover for the book "Not without Hope" by Nick Schuyler; all four men who were on board a boat that capsized in the Gulf back in 2009. 

They found themselves stranded in cold, treacherous conditions and only Schuyler would survive long enough to be rescued. 

RELATED: 2009 boating accident that killed college, NFL football players coming to the big screen

"Nick [Schuyler] has been committed to a singular goal and that is to make everyone know that the last thing about these guys was not how they died, what you need to know all the heroic things they did to keep one another alive and that’s why he agreed to make this movie," said the film’s producer Rick French. 

Pictured: The boat that capsized in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving Schuyler and three of his friends in treacherous waters. 

Despite a number of setbacks and delays, filming is currently taking place in huge water tanks in the island-state of Malta – the same location used for open water films like Captain Phillips. Florida's lack of tax breaks for filmmakers would've made it too expensive and not as safe as enclosed tanks. 

Actor Zachary Levi plays Schuyler while Josh Duhamel has been cast as the Coast Guard commander at the time. 

"It was against all odds that Nick Schuyler was found alive 43 hours later, 70 miles out in the Gulf after those storms and the 15-foot swells and everything they faced," French said. 

Schuyler still lives in the Tampa Bay area, and he owns the Sky Athletix gym in Lutz. In 2014 he sat down with FOX 13's Russell Rhodes to reflect on all he'd been through.  

Nick Schuyler during an interview with FOX 13's Russell Rhodes at his gym in Lutz. 

"I was given a second chance, I’m going to make the best out of it, and I’m going to live to the fullest, that’s what I’m trying to do," Schuyler said in 2014. 

Today, that's helping filmmakers honor his friends, lost at sea 14 years ago. 

"We hope that what we do with this film is give their memories justice," French said.