As part of Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series highlighting the scripts behind awards season’s buzziest films, it’s time to dive into Young Woman and the Sea, the Daisy Ridley starrer about American swimmer Gertrude ‘Trudy’ Ederle, who in 1926 became the first woman to swim across the English Channel.

For the uninitiated, the film took nearly 10 years to complete with various talent attached, multiple studios involved and endless financial roadblocks until the summer of 2022, when director Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Kon-Tiki) was able to see it through. The screenplay was written by Rønning’s Pirates scribe Jeff Nathanson — whose swath of credits range from The Lion King and a pair of Rush Hour movies to Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal — and is based on Glenn Stout’s book Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World.

“This is the highest-testing movie I’ve ever made, and I’ve made some pretty big hits,” producer Jerry Bruckheimer told Deadline of the story about an accomplished swimmer who was born to immigrant parents in New York City in 1905. “It’s the emotion of this young girl who goes through all these trials and tribulations to win and achieve her dream. When you get to the end and you see the real parade, you say, ‘Oh my god, this is real.’ This girl was forgotten. That was what really excited me about this. I love stories that educate and entertain, and this one not only educates you, it entertains you. And it’s an emotional piece. So many screenings we’ve had, you see people walk out with red eyes. And there’s so much joy in the movie that makes it all worthwhile.”

Rønning admitted he had never heard of Ederle, and how she made the 21-mile swim from France to England, before submerging himself in the movie.

“The first time I read Jeff Nathanson’s script was the first time I knew about Trudy and her amazing accomplishment,” he told Deadline. “I was so baffled by that, because this was such a worldwide event when it happened a hundred years ago and, in many ways, changed women’s sports forever. That, in itself, was very intriguing, to learn about this incredible woman and almost feeling a responsibility to tell her story and to bring her back from being lost in time.”

Young Woman and the Sea hit theaters in May and is currently streaming on Disney+.

Check out the screenplay below.