In 2001 the fictional story of a boy trapped in a boat with an orangutan, a zebra, hyena and a scary-ass Bengal tiger lit up the literary international bestseller lists and now the book has been confirmed for a full cinematic release date. The Life of Pi movie has got the arduous task of bringing that story to life in 3D, but with Ang Lee in the director’s chair it’s got a pretty good chance of pulling it off in style (we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for Hulk).
The plot follows Pi, a religiously experimental boy from India who boards a doomed ship with his family and their collection of zoo animals as they move to Canada because of the threat of political unrest in India. When the boat sinks, Pi finds himself adrift at sea with the animals looming large and so his crazy adventure begins.
Relative newcomer, Suraj Sharma, has been cast as little Piscine and Gerard Depardieau crops up in the movie as the ship’s highly carnivorous chef. Toby Maguire is also reputed to be a part of the film as Yann Martel (the writer of the 2001 Life of Pi novel), but how that’s going to play out isn’t yet clear.
The Life of Pi movie release date has been set for the 21st December 2012 and if the initial shots are anything to go by it’s going to be a visually stunning film. Though it’s been a long time coming, the movie release should make a nice reintroduction of the Life of Pi story. Adapted by David Magee who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on 2004’s Finding Netherland, it’s definitely got a lot of talent behind it.
