Ang Lee is in talks to direct the long-awaited adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling, Booker Prize-winning novel, The Life Of Pi. Mmm… pi.
Readers may recall that M. Night Shyamalan had been set to write and direct the movie, which sees a young man survive the sinking of a freighter, only to find himself sharing the sole lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra and – uh-oh! – a Bengal tiger.
But, even though the material seemed to be right up his twisty street, M. Night decided to focus on his kids’ sci-fi flick, The Last Airbender. Which, to anyone for whom The Happening happened, is something of a relief. Then Jean-Pierre Jeunet came on, wrote a draft with Guillaume Laurent, and left, almost as quickly as he had arrived. And now Lee looks like he’ll be the one to actually serve up Pi.
Lee, one of the best directors working today, is currently in post-production on Taking Woodstock, a comedy with Emile Hirsch and Demetri Martin. If he takes on The Life Of Pi, it will be another 90-degree turn for a man who is almost impossible to pigeonhole. But a commendable one, nonetheless – he should be a perfect fit for this most lyrical of books.
Gil Netter is producing for Fox 2000, which will be hiring a screenwriter soon (what, is James Schamus not available?).