'Everybody Loves Whales' except Ted Danson

LOS ANGELES  – Noted Hollywood environmentalist Ted Danson will play a win-at-all-costs oilman in a rare foray into feature work.

He has joined the lineup of "Everybody Loves Whales," the true story of a small-town reporter (John Krasinski) and a Greenpeace volunteer (Drew Barrymore) who enlist the rival superpowers to save three majestic gray whales trapped under the Arctic Circle in 1988. Danson's character has no interest in saving the mammals.

The Working Title/Universal picture is based on Tom Rose's nonfiction book "Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event." Shooting is set to begin this month in Alaska. Ken Kwapis is directing.

Also joining the cast is Vinessa Shaw ("3:10 to Yuma") as a White House staffer who wants the government to help the whales. Kristen Bell and Tim Blake Nelson were previously cast.