Life of Pi is a 2012 adventure-drama film directed and produced by Ang Lee and written by David Magee.
The film is based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name and stars Suraj Sharma in his film debut, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu, and Adil Hussain in lead roles. The story revolves around two survivors of a shipwreck who are on a lifeboat stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. One is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) and the other is a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
The film began development shortly after the release of the book and saw directors M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet involved at various stages before the hiring of Lee. Filming was split between India, Taiwan, and Montreal in 2011, with Rhythm & Hues Studios (R&H) handling the visual effects work.
The film had its worldwide premiere as the opening film of the 50th New York Film Festival at both the Walter Reade Theater and Alice Tully Hall in New York City on September 28, 2012. It was theatrically released in the U.S. on November 21 by 20th Century Fox.
Life of Pi became a commercial success, grossing over $609 million worldwide and receiving generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Lee's direction, the screenplay, the editing, the music, the sound design, and especially the effects and the cinematography. It was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture – Drama and Best Director, and won for Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. At the 85th Academy Awards, it had eleven nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and won four, including Best Director for Ang Lee.
The film received positive reviews from critics, with *The New York Times* calling it "one of the best films of the year." Roger Ebert of the *Chicago Sun-Times* gave the film four stars out of four, referring to it as "a miraculous achievement of storytelling and a landmark of visual mastery." Peter Travers of *Rolling Stone* highlighted the use of 3D in the film, suggesting that "like *Hugo*, from Martin Scorsese, *Life of Pi* puts 3D in the hands of a world-class film artist. (Ang) Lee uses 3D with the delicacy and lyricism of a poet. You don't just watch this movie, you live it."
The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D in North America on March 12, 2013, and on 4K Blu-ray and digital copy on March 8, 2016. It was the eighth best-selling film of 2013 on physical home video formats in the United Kingdom.