Laura Lezza/Getty ImagesIt's only been a week since the Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the shore of Giglio Island in Italy, but the cashing-in seems to have already begun.
The Discovery Channel announced today that it will air a special this spring that will examine what exactly caused the disaster, with an emphasis on what role Captain Francesco Schettino played as well as the efforts being made to try and salvage the luxury liner.
"The world has been horrified and captivated by the real life drama of the Costa Concordia disaster," read a statement released by the network regarding the tragedy, which, at this writing, has left 11 confirmed dead and 23 passengers still missing. "With so many unanswered questions, Discovery will piece together not only the immediate events, but the bigger story of what comes next in recovery and restoration."
Meanwhile, Dr. Phil has nabbed an exclusive with two of the ship's surviving American passengers.
"At the time this was happening, you were very likely crawling to your cabin," the talk-show host remarks to Georgia and Phil Ananias during the episode airing today. "And the captain's gone and they're trying to get him back on the boat. What do you think about that?"
"It's just unbelievable," says Georgia. "At that point, we didn't know. One thing that we did know, though, it wasn't just the captain that wasn't there. None of the officers were there."
"Where were they?" Dr. Phil asks.
"I believe they were with the captain, probably," insists Georgia. "There wasn't one other person who could say, 'We need to get these people off. Why not put these people in the lifeboats?'"
And while there's been no word yet of a movie being made from all this, we can't help but think it's only a matter of time.
This is Hollywood, after all.