Jean-Pierre Jeunet has signed on to direct the adaptation of the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi.

Variety reports that Jeunet, the director of Amelie and A Very Long Engagement, had already started work on the script for 20th Century Fox with Guillaume Laurant, his long-time collaborator. Previously, M. Night Shyamalan and Alfonso Cuaron were attached to the Pi project, but they both opted for other films.

Life of Pi, written by Canadian novelist Yann Martel, is the story of a boy named Pi who finds himself on a lifeboat with a hyena, a zebra and a tiger when the ship carrying him and his family – and his family’s zoo – sinks.

“It’s a story of an orphan fighting against a monster,” Jeunet told the San Francisco Chronicle. “And this time the monster is a tiger. I said, ‘Oh, my God, it’s for me!’ I need to make the adaptation.”

Jeunet has been shown the studio with the giant tank used in Titanic, a likely set for the film’s shooting. The rest of the filming will probably be in India. Production is slated to begin next summer.

Jeunet describes a scene from the novel: “[Pi] says if you put Tokyo upside down, you would be surprised to see how many animals could fall. And I’m going to do that in a visual effect, you know? It’s my cup of tea.” Man, it’s gonna be surreal.






Related Stories: