Shyamalan Shocks

In what is perhaps a rather surprising move for the Sixth Sense director, M Night Shyamalan has abandoned original writing, scares and Disney for his next project: an adaptation of Yann Martel's Booker Prize-winning novel, The Life of Pi. The director is currently close to signing a deal with Fox to bring to life this unusual tale, one about as far removed from his usual fare as it's possible to get. The story revolves around a boy called Pi from Pondicherry, India - the very same place that Shyamalan hails from, a fact that initially drew him to the project. The 16-year-old Pi is on his way to begin a new life in Canada along with his family and a menagerie of beasts from his father's zoo when their ship sinks and the boy is left stranded on a raft with a wounded zebra, a hyena, a seasick orang-utan and a Bengal tiger called Richard Parker. Adrift for weeks, Pi begins a philosophical journey of the soul, his fate becoming increasingly entwined with that of the tiger, which he manages to tame. A bizarre tale to be sure but the book has been heralded as one of the most remarkable pieces of literary fiction in years. If all goes ahead, Shyamalan will begin adapting the novel himself once work is complete on his most recent chiller, The Village (the film formerly known as The Woods).