Surprised? Well, we all are, but still, we're happy to hear this is going to be Lee's next movie, since we all know that the project had already passed through multiple directors including Dean Georgaris, M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuaron and Jean-Pierre Jeneut.
So, looks like Life of Pi, a fantasy adventure novel written by Yann Martel, is going to be Lee's first 3D film. The project is now scouting locations Taiwan and Pondicherry, and it will be a big-budget film with a price tag of over $70 million.
Lee wants this to be a 3D magical fantasy adventure crammed with visual effect because there will be a lot of CG animals (whales, fish, meercats) plus ocean and atmosphere. No cast info yet but scribe David Magee (we all remember him from Finding Neverland) has finished the screenplay.
Producer Elizabeth Gabler wants to begin filming this August for a 2012 release, but Fox hasn't made a decision on whether to give the film the green light. So we'll just have to wait for their decision, which will probably be made within the month.
In the mean time, let us all remember the Life of Pi synopsis: “The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger.
Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them “the truth.” After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional–but is it more true?”
Perfect one, indeed, and like we had a chance to see, everything is possible with this director, so we're definitely interested in Ang Lee's Life of Pi. Looking forward for more details about it, and that's why you should stay tuned!
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