Big-name co-stars line up for Winter

Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, actor/singer Harry Connick Jr. and actress Ashley Judd are in negotiations to star in "Dolphin Tale," the 3-D movie about Winter, a dolphin with prosthetic tail.

"All three are likely to sign and this just shows that the producer Alcon Entertainment has raised the bar as far as the talent for this film," said David Yates, CEO of Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where production is set to begin Sept. 27.

Yates said he has just returned from meeting in Los Angeles with producers.

"Alcon does things at the highest level and having an Academy Award winner like Morgan Freeman is terrific for the film," Yates said.

The casting news was announced Thursday by Alcon co-founders and co-CEOs Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson.

Based on true events, "Dolphin Tale" will be a family film about Winter, a young dolphin who loses her tail in a crab trap, and Sawyer, the introverted, 11-year old boy who befriends her.

Nationwide casting is underway to find a young actor to play Sawyer. "And there are some other key roles to fill," Yates said.

Character actor and film director Charles Martin Smith ("Air Bud," "The Snow Walker") will direct the film.

In the film, Sawyer meets the rescued dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Hospital, a rehabilitation center where she lives. Sawyer rallies friends and family to save Winter by convincing a pioneering doctor to create a unique prosthetic attachment to restore the dolphin's ability to swim.

Winter will portray herself in the movie.

According to a news release from Alcon, Freeman will play Dr. McCarthy, an eccentric doctor who specializes in creating prosthetics for war veterans. He volunteers to help save Winter by designing a prosthetic tail for her.

Connick will play the role of Clay Haskett, the dedicated marine biologist who rescues Winter and takes her to the rescue facility.

Judd will play Lorraine Nelson, a nurse and the single mother of Sawyer. "Initially skeptical of her son's relationship with the ailing dolphin, she eventually realizes Winter's importance in his life," the release says.