ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A documentary about the boating accident in the Gulf that took the lives of three football players in 2009, will make its world premiere at the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg on Thursday.

It is based on the book from sole survivor Nick Schuyler.

What You Need To Know

  • 'Four Down' will premiere at the Sunscreen Film Festival on Thursday

  • The documentary depicts the 2009 fatal boating accident that claimed the lives of 3 football players 

  • It's based on sole survivor Nick Schuyler's best-selling book "Not Without Hope" 

  • A movie about the tragedy is expected to be released in September

“It’s a special film,” said producer Rick French. “That’s worthy of the budget that’s been put into it.”

French said it cost $5 million to make the hybrid documentary Four Down, which was filmed in the Tampa Bay area with actual Coast Guard personnel and in the Dominican Republic.

“A typical documentary will cost you in the $1 million to $2 million range,” he said. “A little over $4 million was the highest we’ve ever been able to document. We’re north of $5 million. That was necessary to do those recreations,” he said.

The film depicts the doomed fishing trip former Bucs players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith, along with former University of South Florida players Will Bleakley and Nick Schuyler took from a boat ramp near Clearwater.  

The boat’s anchor gets snagged 70 miles off the Pinellas County coast. After a failed attempt to free it, the vessel capsized. Nearly 43 hours later, the Coast Guard found lone survivor Schuyler clinging to the engine mount in frigid waters.

Steven Cantor directed the film which is based on Schuyler’s 2010 best-selling book “Not Without Hope.”

“It’ll be up to the viewers at the festival to determine whether we’ve kind of met our mission, which is to honor the memory of the three guys that were lost that day,” said French. “And to applaud the heroism of the U.S. Coast Guard, because they’re a big part of this story.”

More than 80 members of the Coast Guard are expected to attend the premiere in uniform. Schuyler will also be there to answer audience questions following the screening, according to French.

“He’s worked very hard to kind of move on from this tragedy,” he said. “Which makes it all the more really courageous that he was willing to share his story after all these years.”

Four Down is the opening night premiere at the 20th annual Sunscreen Film Festival, at the Sundial AMC Theaters, at 7 p.m., on Thursday, in St. Petersburg.

“We probably could have taken this movie any festival. We wanted to premiere it here in St. Pete,” said French. “The story is, for better or worse, kind of owned by this community. The families, we’re all here. Nick still lives in the area.”

A movie about the tragedy, also titled Not Without Hope, which stars Josh Duhamel and Zachary Levi, is expected to be released in September.