The strange tale of a boy trapped on a boat with a Bengali tiger, a hyena, a zebra and an orangutan took the world by storm when Life Of Pi was published back in 2001. And – as with basically any book that causes a flurry of excitement – it was perhaps inevitable that the story would make the leap onto the big screen. Helming the project is Ang Lee – director of Broke Back Mountain – and today he’s confirmed that he’s cast unknown actor and Delhi highschooler Suraj Sharma as lead character Pi.

The budget is pretty impressive, currently standing at a hefty $50 million, and Lee has revealed that he’s going to be shooting the film in – all together now – 3D. Still, at least that’s better than tacking it on in post-production eh? (*cough* Clash Of The Titans *cough*). His reason behind the expensive upgrade? “I think it will change the way people experience the sea”. Hmmm. We’ll reserve judgement for now.

Suraj Sharma will be making his on-screen debut with the role; a lot of pressure for a high school kid. Still, we’re more excited to learn who’s going to be taking the role of the various creatures; we hear Davie Dickinson has got his heart set on Orangutan…