After THE VILLAGE met with critical and commercial disappointment in 2004, M. Night Shyamalan looked to do something different for his next film. He signed with Fox to write and direct an adaptation of Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi,” the first of Shyamalan’s films to adapt an existing piece of work. Shyamalan was never able to get the film off the ground (sadly moving on to direct LADY IN THE WATER and THE HAPPENING) and other directors like Alfonso Cuaron and Jean Pierre-Jeunet were attached in the years since with similar results. Now it looks like Fox may be one step closer to a greenlight with a new director and a popular new format.
Ang Lee is in talks to produce and direct LIFE OF PI in 3D, his first return to big-budget filmmaking since 2003’s THE HULK. Producers are hoping to get production on the film underway in Pondicherry, India this August with a $70 million budget. Fox is currently evaluating the film and could give the film a greenlight in the next few weeks.
The movie would be significant because it would mark Lee’s first film without frequent collaborator James Schamus. Schamus, who also runs Focus Features, has also distributed Lee’s last three films.
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