Gerard Depardieu, Irrfan Khan, and Adil Hussain Join LIFE OF PI; Tabu in Talks
by Kimberly Lucas Posted: December 8th, 2010
Ang Lee’s next project, Life of Pi has been casting over the past few weeks. Its most recent additions include Irrfan Khan (In Treatment), Adil Hussain (Calendar Girls), and Gerard Depardieu (La Vie en Rose). The film, based on the novel by Yann Martel, is about a young boy who is stranded at sea in a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a tiger. According to Variety, Khan will play the adult version of the lead character Pi, while Hussain will play Pi’s father, a zookeeper. Depardieu will play the part of the chef on the ship which they are traveling on. Though Depardieu is most known for playing Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac, I loved him in my childhood for his villainous role of Jean-Pierre in 102 Dalmations. Currently, the Bollywood actress Tabu (The Namesake), is being spoken to about playing Pi’s mother. Lee recently made an interesting choice in hiring newcomer Suraj Sharma as Pi, who will have only a tiger to share the screen with for two-thirds of the film.For more on this film, as well as a synopsis, continue after the jump:
David Magee’s script is adapted from one of the most beautifully well-written novels in the past ten years. Ang Lee alone choosing it to be his next film makes it a must see. But what is really attention-grabbing is the fact that he is choosing to film it in 3D. This is definitely not the type of story that one would immediately place in the “should be made in 3D” category. So, seeing how he accomplishes it is worth all the wait for the December 14, 2012 release date.A description of Life of Pi, via Amazon:
The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes.http://www.collider.com/2010/12/08/life-of-pi-gerard-depardieu-irrfan-khan/
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them “the truth.” After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional–but is it more true?
First Teaser Trailer and Poster for TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub Posted: December 8th, 2010
Paramount has released the first teaser trailer for Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon and it’s extremely well cut and a great teaser. While many studios love to reveal too much in their trailers and sometimes even in their teaser trailers, this is a perfect example of how to sell your movie without giving it all away. Also, I love the way it works in a huge moment from the late 60’s and makes it connect with the universe of Transformers. I don’t want to spoil it…In addition, I spent three hours yesterday with Michael Bay and he showed me (and a few other reporters) a ton of footage from the 3rd Transformers movie. In fact, he probably showed us a lot more footage than anyone at the studio expected. But because he lifted the veil on the story and some of the massive action set pieces, I can tell you with certainty the 3rd Transformers movie looks to be the biggest and possible the best of the trilogy. He knows the second one wasn’t what it should’ve been and he’s aiming for a huge improvement in terms of story and action. While he asked us not reveal any spoilers…I saw an action set piece that looks so fraking amazing, even with people firing guns at nothing and some shots just animatics, I was completely invested in the scene and I could follow exactly what they were trying to do. I was blown away by the footage. Trust me, the 3rd movie is going to be a huge improvement and you have never seen action on this scale. It also has a story! Hit the jump for the teaser, the first official image, and a promo poster:
Watch it in HD on Apple
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here’s the first official image from Transformers: Dark of the Moon
