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Life of Pi by Yann Martel is one of my favorite books.  One part religious commentary, one part fantasy, one part adventure, it's about a boy lost at sea in a small rowboat with a Bengal tiger, a zebra, a hyena and an orangutan.  I highly recommend you check it out.  Anyway, back when M. Night Shyamalan was still at the top of his game and was interested in bringing Martel's award-winning work to the silver screen, I was really excited. Alas, even though I haven't yet jumped on the M. Night Hate Train like so many others, I will admit that his last effort, The Happening, was executed poorly and had some of the worst acting I've ever seen… ever.  (Yeah, I'm talkin' 'bout you, Marky Mark.)  So perhaps I should be relived that the infamously egotistical writer/producer/director/cameo-maker has since decided to drop the project because he was concerned that audiences would immediately expect a twist ending if his name were attached. 

The funny thing is, however, that Life of Pi already does have somewhat of a twist ending (you'll have to read it to find out what it is — no spoilers here!).  Had M. Night been able to choose the right actor to play Pi (which will be the key to the film's success) — he probably would've done an excellent job with the adaptation.  Yes, you could say I still have faith in the guy.

But the good news is that I also have faith in Ang Lee, the latest director to be in talks to oversee the project for Fox 2000.  This is the man who brought us Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain, among others.  He has impressively handled a diverse range of genres, and even though not all of his efforts have been slam-dunks (hello, Hulk), I'd be hard-pressed to find something to worry about if he does in fact take on Life of Pi.   Now let's just hope the film actually gets made — it's been in limbo even longer than Pi and his animal friends were stranded at sea.