Royal Thai Navy Facebook Page via AP
- A Thai soccer team that gripped the world when it got trapped in a cave for 17 days last summer is set to sign a deal with Netflix.
- Netflix confirmed to Business Insider that it is working on a "original scripted mini-series" about the rescue.
- The 12 boys and their coach were trapped in a flooded, complex cave system as oxygen levels dwindled last June and July.
- A Navy SEAL was killed during the daring rescue that ultimately saw all of the boys safely recovered.
The Thai soccer team that spent 17 days trapped in a flooded cave before a daring and successful rescue mission look set to sign a deal with Netflix about their ordeal.
Netflix confirmed to Business Insider that it is working on an "original scripted mini-series" about the Thai cave rescue.
Netflix is working with 13 Tham Luang Company Limited, the company that manages the rescued football team, and SK Global Entertainment, the production company behind "Crazy Rich Asians."
CNN reported that parties had agreed to the terms, but a contract has not yet been signed.
Read more: This timeline shows exactly how the Thai cave rescue unfolded
The rescue of the 12 boys and their coach captured global attention after they were left trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex in northern Thailand without food and water last summer.
They faced a ticking clock as flood waters rose and oxygen in the cave dwindled, before they were saved by a dramatic international rescue effort.
The boys have spoken publicly about their ordeal since, including during an appearance on "Ellen."
However, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the Netflix deal would restrict them from giving future interviews about their experience.
Tham Luang Rescue Operation Center via AP
The dramatic cave rescue
The Wild Boars soccer team went to Tham Luang on June 23 apparently to perform some sort of initiation ceremony when the cave flooded because of the monsoon, blocking their way out.
Their families had to wait nine days, until July 2, for signs of life, when divers found the team huddled at the edge of floodwaters two-and-a-half miles from the cave entrance.
Divers reassured the team that help was coming, but the cave's passages were so narrow and flooded that rescuers had to withdraw repeatedly for safety reasons.
The boys did not now how to swim, and the monsoon season was due to last for months. A former Thai Navy SEAL working to rescue the team died from a lack of oxygen on July 5.
Shayanne Gal/Business Insider
Countries including Australia, Britain, China, Israel, and the US provided resources and helped out with rescue efforts and oxygen levels in the cave fell, and experts worried that the boys were not well enough to be moved from the cave.
But the boys were successfully rescued from the cave between July 8 and July 10, accompanied by divers through dark and tight passageways filled with muddy water and strong currents. They were brought to hospital, where they recovered.
Linh Pham/Getty Images
- Read more about the Thai cave rescue:
Thai boys soccer team and their coach speak out 2 months after they got stuck in flooded cave