As M. Night Shyamalan is quickly getting everything ready for his upcoming Warner Bros. feature Lady in the Water it seems Fox 2000 is working just as quickly to replace the helmer for their adaptation of Yann Martel’s bestselling novel “Life of Pi”.
Shyamalan had been attached tothe picture since October 2003 but it seems Fox feels he turned his back on the picture with his commitment to Lady in the Water. Therefore they are searching for a new helmer and all eyes seem to be pointed at Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban helmer Alfonso Cuarón.
Cuarón is currently casting Children of Men over at Universal and Fox must get a few things worked out with Warner Bros. to obtain Cuarón’s services considering his deal with the WB, but Variety does say that negotiations for the Oscar-nommed Mexican helmer are expected to proceed apace.
“Life of Pi” follows the story of Pi Patel, son of a zookeeper, who leaves India with his family to emigrate ot North America, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. Along the way, the ship sinks and Pi is left stranded at sea in a lifeboat along with a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger.
Soon, the tiger eats all but Pi, whose knowledge of animal instincts allows him to coexist with the animal for 227 days when suddenly they finally land on the coast of Mexico and the story takes a “fantastical” turn.
