LIFE OF PI Movie in Limbo
Budget concerns may put the long-delayed film adaptation of Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi on hold, according to the Los Angeles Times. The project has been under development for seven years, with Academy Award winner Ang Lee’s name mentioned most recently as a possible director. Lee is said to have been exploring the idea of shooting the film in 3-D.
The studio behind the deal is 20th Century Fox’s specialty division, Fox 2000 whose chief Elizabeth Gabler is a fan of the project. But when Lee and producer Gil Netter brought a tentative shooting budget to Fox 2000 in the $70 million range, the studio voiced its concern that the story of an Indian boy trapped on a raft for 227 days with a tiger was not a commercial project.
Lee and Netter still have the option of working out a budget more acceptable to the studio, but until that is done the film remains in limbo.
