Ever since Ang Lee rescued the film version of Yann Martel’s Life of P****i from the lifeboat of cinematic limbo, he’s been going full speed ahead on the film. Back in October, we reported on the fact that Lee had auditioned hundreds across of kids the world and locked in unknown performer Suraj Sharma to play human hero Molitor “Pi” Patel. And now he’s found three more actors to the cast: Gerard Depardieu, Irffan Khan and Adil Hussain.
Pi’s story finds the central lad out at sea on a freighter. Which is all well and good until the ship sinks. Stranded on a lifeboat, he has a hyena, a tiger, an inured zebra and a seasick orang-utan for company. We can only imagine the mess.
But his experiences are not limited to just the sea-going shelter: the book, which has been adapted by David Magee, features three main story strands – Pi’s time in the boat, his reminiscences about his childhood and the interview with two officials from the Japanese maritime department, which sees him spin a very different tale about his time on the water.
**Calendar Girls **actor Hussain has signed on to play Pi’s father, while Khan, who appeared in Slumdog Millionaire and has just nabbed a part in the new Spider-Man, is the adult Pi. Depardieu’s playing a chef.
Lee plans to start shooting early next year. Rumours that the tiger from out of The Hangover has been in secret talks to play the animal in the film are, of course, purely the product of our deranged imagination.