Festival de Cannes

INTERVIEW - Ang Lee: “I would like my career to be forever a film school”

the 24.05.2013 at 1:00 PM - Updated on 24.05.2013 at 1:10 PM

From  Pi's raft to the peaks of Alberta, the life of Ang Lee follows the thread of a cinematographic odyssey. Fourteen stages and a multitude of genres and themes: Ang Lee masters traditional wuxia in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and comedy in Taking Woodstock, just as he lets rage loose in Hulk or stirs the passion of cowboys in Brokeback Mountain. In 2012, he received the Oscar for Best Director for his dream-like story of initiation, Life of Pi. A conversation with a globetrotter director.

Ang Lee © AFP

You have made cinema about western, superheroes, wuxia, history… How do you choose a subject for a film? Are you a globetrotter director travelling through cinema?
I don’t really have a plan or a checklist. But sometimes, I would like my career to be forever a film school. I’m an avid filmmaker. I like to play different roles and I have a lot of curiosity, I would like to touch and learn all kinds of filmmaking. In different places, people teach me how to make movies. I write the movies myself. I just see what I’m curious about. I keep thinking about something. Sometimes when I put off a material, four or five years later, it keeps haunting me.

You can read the full interview at Festival de Cannes

God bless the mayor's aioli. #cannes twitter.com/erickohn/statu…
— erickohn (@erickohn) May 24, 2013

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After Ang Lee has rested for a year or two, at which time Angelina should be finished with Unbroken, could he be ready to take on a full feature film?  Like, perhaps a grand epic about the last Pharaoh of Egypt?

Ang Lee Departs FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’ dlvr.it/3PLPpb via @deadline
— Nikki Finke (@NikkiFinke) May 20, 2013

UPDATE 4:15 PM: Here is Ang Lee’s statement about his departure from Tyrant.

It is with disappointment that I must confirm I have withdrawn from my commitment to direct the upcoming FX pilot Tyrant.
It is one of the most brilliant ideas for a series that I’ve seen and one about which I was very excited.
However, after spending over four years making and promoting LIFE OF PI, I have recently realized that I need some rest .
Because I cannot give 100% to this exciting project at this time, I cannot allow myself to do anything that may affect the potential for this exciting new series.
I wish FOX 21 and FX the best with this remarkable project.




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No Lee

It's quite a surprising turn around for the thoughtful Ang Lee to now move away from Cleopatra after initially stating his enthusiasm for it.   I am curious what was behind his change of mind.  Is he looking to take a long break from feature film directing? 

Lee was quoted in the article as stating that he turned down all the scripts he was sent except for the TV pilot for Tyrant.  It could be that the exhausting work on Pi left him desiring a lighter work load.  But he expressed his interest in Cleopatra after he had already finished most of the promo tour for Pi.  He stated at the time that he was about to read the script and would "probably" accept Sony's offer. 

If he didn't like Eric Roth's script it would have been simple enough to get another rewrite.  They are working off historical facts with some degree of conjecture which is not so different from adapting a book like Life of Pi.   But since he turned down all other scripts, perhaps he's not ready to commit to another film at this time.

He may have been left even more physically drained at the end of the Oscar campaign than he first realized.  He certainly looked tired.  In his press conference the next day he was asked if he intended to take a sabbatical and he answered "no." "I'm still choosing the next one (film project)."

Angelina's schedule also means Cleopatra will be gestating for two years which may have further factored into Lee's decision

Lee should be talking to the film press soon, possibly in Cannes where he is a member of this year's jury, and we'll get to hear what his real reasons are for declining Sony's offer.

Angelina will be busy with Unbroken until at least late 2014.  I am sure she wanted to finish Unbroken in Louis Zamperini's lifetime and that meant shoving everything else to the back burner 

Angelina has already brought a lot to the table for Unbroken. It is unlikely that the Coen brothers would have taken up the assignment to rewrite Unbroken's script if it was still Francis Lawrence or another director in charge.  The project may well still be languishing in development without her attachment or may evolve into something with less exciting potential.  So from Zampeini's, author Laura Hillenbrand's and producer Matthew Bauer's point of view, she is probably a godsend.   But is working on Unbroken at this point in her career a godsend for her?

Unbroken obviously touched an emotional chord in her and as we have seen in the past, Angelina's film decisions are -- for better or for worse (but mostly worse) -- strongly influenced by her impulses and emotions.  I was looking over Robert Downey, Jr.'s filmmography and was struck by how many excellent films (rating 90%+ on RT) he has been a part of.  In contrast, Angelina's highest rated film (not made for TV or animated) is A Mightty Heart.  She has yet to star in a feature film that scored over 80% on RT.  

Time will tell if Angelina is making the right decision.  She definitely showed some talent in her directorial debut and without the added burden of dealing with a highly partisan political issue, she may be able to spread her wings and let her full directorial vision take flight.  

Unbroken is obvious Oscar material and both she and the film may end up being in serious contention for a 2015 or 2016 Oscar.  But its commercial prospects are less clear.  It will not be without its share of controversy since it will necessarily depict the brutality of Japanese soldiers during WWII. The Japanese are unlikely to react the way the Serbs did towards Blood and Honey but there is still the prospect that some nationalists may raise objections. 

We'll just have to wait and see. 

-- Fussy

Ang Lee returns to Taiwan before starting work on TV series

【Culture】2013-05-06  13:55:51

Taipei, May 6 (CNA) Oscar-winning director Ang Lee returned to Taiwan early Monday to give encouragement to the local film industry.

......

 "I have received many scripts in recent months, but I have turned down all of them, except for this TV series,” he said.
.......

Meanwhile, he said he has decided not to accept an offer to work on the Hollywood movie Cleopatra, in which Angelina Jolie plays the queen of Egypt.



You can read the rest at Focus Taiwan

Ang Lee To Direct FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’ From Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff & Craig Wright

Just like David Fincher who took a break from full-feature films after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to direct the pilot of House of Cards, Ang Lee is taking his break with the pilot for Tyrant.

Mike Flemming had the additional report that "Warner Bros is now out to Ang Lee" for the Moses biopic Gods and Kings after Steven Spielberg dropped out, and that Lee is "intrigued" but "hasn’t had a formal meeting on the script".   Beneath the attention-grabbing headline, all it really says is that Warner reached out to Lee -- and I'm sure they've reached out to others as well.  In scoop parlance, "intrigued" is a notch or two below "interested".   When Lee expressed interest in Cleopatra, one of his reasons was that it was very different from anything else he's done before.  Kings and Cleopatra are very similar sword and sandal epics.  If Lee is at the point where he already feels he will "probably" accept Cleopatra, I find it highly unlikely that he'll seriously consider another similar biopic.

Since Tyrant will reportedly be filming in Morocco, they are probably looking at a Fall start.  That should keep Lee busy for the rest of the year.  Which means the earliest that he can work on Cleopatra is Winter/Spring next year.  But will Angelina be free at the time if she is working on Unbroken?

As a director, she'll be tied up in post for several months after filming wraps.  Assuming the Coen brothers finish their script in time for a Fall start and they film for 3 months, she won't be free until Fall next year.  Unbroken is a complicated shoot and will require considerable VFX to depict Zamperini's time adrift in the Pacific.

As a fan, part of me is pleased that directing has re-ignited her passion for film.  But at the same time, I wish she prioritized the films where she has starring roles first.  The clock is ticking and in a few years she will no longer be suitable for roles like Salt 2 and even Cleopatra.  She is at her peak as a lead actress now and she has yet to star in a truly great film.  It's not like if she retires as an actress tomorrow, she has a body of work she can truly be proud of.  For every good to decent feature film she has starred in -- A Mighty Heart, Changeling -- she's had two or more clunkers -- The Tourist, Beyond Borders, Original Sin, Alexander.  She has perhaps a decade left and I'd like to see her star in some truly memorable films.

-- Fussy



THR

Ang Lee's Oscar Follow-Up: An FX Pilot

11:30 AM PDT 3/14/2013 by Lacey Rose

The "Life of Pi" director will helm and executive produce Howard Gordon's "Tyrant," which revolves around an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle East nation.

Getty Images

Ang Lee

Mere weeks after winning the Academy Award for best director, Ang Lee has signed on for his next act: television.

In a matter of months, the Life of Pi helmer will head to Morocco to direct the pilot for FX’s Tyrant, a drama project revolving around unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle East nation from Homeland’s Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff and Lost’s Craig Wright. Although the offer was made before the Academy Awards -- at that time, something of a pipe dream for the show’s producers -- Lee didn’t express interest until after the Feb. 24 awards show in which he beat out rivals including Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) for the Oscar.

Lee’s first foray into series television is as much a commentary on the state of cable TV as it is on that of film. It's no secret that cable is increasingly known for its rich character development and envelope-pushing plot lines, a shift that has coincided with the major film studios' growing reliance on superhero tentpoles over character-driven stories. In making the leap, Lee will join a growing cadre of brand-name film directors who have waded into television, including Martin Scorsese (Boardwalk Empire), Michael Mann (Luck) and Gus Van Sant (Boss).
Lee will remain with Tyrant as an executive producer if -- or, more likely, when -- it is ordered to series.

STORY: 'Homeland' Producers Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff Sell Middle East Drama to FX

Lee brings with him a résumé that is as diverse as it is impressive: He also won the best director Oscar for 2005's Brokeback Mountain and was nominated for 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and his credits also include Hulk, Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm and The Wedding Banquet. Life of Pi -- which earned 11 Oscar nominations, including best picture, and won four -- has grossed more than $600 million at the worldwide box office.
"Ang Lee has demonstrated time and again an ability to present characters with such depth and specificity that they reveal the universal human condition," said FX Networks president John Landgraf. "No one could be a more perfect filmmaker to bring Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff and Craig Wright's Tyrant to indelible life."

Added Bert Salke, president of Fox 21, which is producing Tyrant with FX Productions: "The fact that the brilliant Ang Lee has signed on to direct his first project for television speaks to the extraordinary nature of Tyrant. Ang Lee, Gideon Raff, Craig Wright and Howard Gordon are master storytellers at the height of their powers, and the material is incredible.”
Raff, who created and single-handedly wrote every episode of Hatufim, the Israeli series that inspired Homeland, created the concept for Tyrant, which Gordon and Wright developed for U.S. TV though Gordon's 20th Century Fox Television-based production company, Teakwood Lane. Gordon, Raff and Wright are all attached as executive producers, in association with Israel's Keshet Broadcasting. If Tyrant is ordered to series, Wright will serve as the series’ showrunner.
Casting on Tyrant has not yet begun, though sources close to the project suggest the series will rely heavily on Middle Eastern actors. FX, which famously passed on Showtime’s Homeland, landed the spec following an intense cable bidding war. (Showtime was not among the bidders.)

Lee, a three-time Academy Award winner, is repped by CAA and Schreck Rose Dapello & Adams.

Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com; Twitter: @LaceyVRose





 Deadline

Ang Lee To Direct FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’ From Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff & Craig Wright

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 11:30am PDTOn the heels of winning his second directing Oscar for Life Of Pi, Ang Lee will make his television directorial debut with FX‘s high-profile drama pilot Tyrant, from Homeland executive producers Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff and Six Feet Under alum Craig Wright. This represents a major coup for FX and Tyrant producers Fox 21 and FX Prods as Lee had been approached numerous times for pilots, but this is the first one he has committed to. In addition to directing, Lee is executive producing Tyrant, his first project following Life Of Pi. It tells the story of an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation. The series was created by Raff and developed by Gordon and Wright. Raff wrote the pilot, which comes from Gordon’s 20th TV-based company Teakwood Lane. “Ang Lee has demonstrated time and again an ability to present characters with such depth and specificity that they reveal the universal human condition,” said FX president John Landgraf. “No one could be a more perfect film maker to bring Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff, and Craig Wright’s Tyrant to indelible life.”
Gordon, Raff and Wright also executive produce in association with Keshet Broadcasting. If Tyrant goes to series, Wright will serve as showrunner. With a huge commitment and A-list creative auspices, Tyrant already was fully expected to go to series, something Landgraf alluded to in January. (Backup scripts had already been commissioned.) Lee’s arrival likely sealed the deal. “The fact that the brilliant Ang Lee has signed on to direct his first project for television speaks to the extraordinary nature of Tyrant,” said Fox 21 president Bert Salke. Production of Tyrant is tentatively slated to begin this summer.
Tyrant keeps Lee in the Fox family. His last four movies, Brokeback Mountain; Lust, Caution; Taking Woodstock and Life Of Pi were all produced/distributed by divisions of Twentieth Century Fox, a sibling to both FX and Fox 21. Lee has won three Oscars, for directing Brokeback Mountain and Life Of Pi and his Best Foreign-Language Film winner, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. His latest film, Life Of Pi, won the most Oscars this year, four, and has grossed more than $600 million worldwide.






 Deadline

Tom Hooper, Ang Lee, David Fincher And Steven Spielberg Eye Intriguing Movies

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 5:22pm PDTEXCLUSIVE: Deadline scooped the news today that Safety Not Guaranteed helmer Colin Trevorrow landed the plum gig of Jurassic Park 4, a move which could catapult him to the director A-list. There is a lot of movement going on among directors that will reverberate depending on who takes what job.

First up, Steven Spielberg has ended his long flirtation with directing Gods And Kings, the epic-sized Warner Bros film about life of Moses based on the script by Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine. That puts Warner Bros in a bind because of the rival Moses project, the Adam Cooper/Bill Collage-scripted Exodus, which is gathering steam at Fox, with Ridley Scott looking to mobilize that as soon as he completes The Counselor. But Warner Bros is now out to Ang Lee, who just won the Best Director Oscar for Life Of Pi. I’m told he’s intrigued with the project but hasn’t had a formal meeting on the script. Imagine what either director can do with that subject matter, and with the ratings on History Channel’s The Bible miniseries, the audience is certainly there. Spielberg hasn’t dropped the project for another; while he postponed his next film Robopocalypse, he hasn’t replaced it with anything as he continues to develop that robot pic. Spielberg also recently told French TV he’s developing a Napoleon miniseries for TV based on Stanley Kubrick’s screenplay and research. for





Meanwhile, David Fincher seems to be getting serious about Gone Girl, the Gillian Flynn runaway bestseller that Fox has been developing with The Social Network helmer since January. Pacific Standard’s Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea are producing, along with Leslie Dixon, and Flynn wrote the first draft of the screenplay. The plot: a woman disappears on the day of her fifth anniversary and all roads point to her husband as the killer. It looks like Witherspoon is now only going to produce the film, and Fincher’s participation is gaining currency because every age-appropriate actress in town is getting excited about the lead role.


Finally, I’m hearing there could be a potential match between Tom Hooper and the Peter Morgan-scripted film about icon Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury that is set at Sony Pictures and GK Films. Sacha Baron Cohen, who just worked with Hooper on Best Picture Oscar nominee Les Miserables, has long been attached to play Mercury, one of the most gifted rock frontmen to grace the stage. From what I’m hearing, there is no formal offer at the moment and there are several offers for Hooper, who before Les Miserables helmed the Best Picture-winning The King’s Speech. But keep an eye on this one, which Graham King and Tim Headington are producing with Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal, with Queen Films.

Coen brothers +

Nabbing the extremely talented and multi-Awarded Coen brothers to write a new script for Unbroken is fantastic news.   And make no mistake, it's huge a coup for Angelina to get them to agree to take this on.  I can't think of anyone better suited to the material as Louie's story is heavy drama with touches of humor.  The Coens are best known for No Country for Old Men but they worked previously with Brad on the farcical Burn After Reading.

With the Coens' stature, they aren't "rewriting" anyone else's script.  They are writing a totally new script but based on the same material  -- the book Unbroken. They're going over the same ground as the previous writers but producing entirely their own take.

Unbroken was already Awards material just based on the inspirational story alone, but the talent assembling behind the film bumps this way up in the Oscar-watch list. 

The production's timetable hinges on when the Coens can finish their script.   But with Laura Hillenbrand's book serving as an excellent starting point, it shouldn't take them more than a few months.  Zamperini's story is far simpler to capture than Cleopatra's which Eric Roth took a year to rewrite.

They're already screening actors to play Louie Zamperini and the search, which includes an open casting call, will take a few months.  Whoever they choose will need time to prepare for the role and lose weight a la Christian Bale for The Fighter.   I think Unbroken should be ready to start filming sometime next year.

As for Cleopatra and Ang Lee, the NY Times wrote from an Oscar after-party, "Ang Lee, the best director winner, arrived at 2 a.m. from a tropical-themed party hosted by Fox, the studio that released his “Life of Pi.” He said he wasn’t sure what he would be doing next.  "Tonight I feel I reached the shore, with ‘Pi,’ ” he said. “I need a rest.”

While some of that may be exhaustion from a night of revelry, Lee has said he needed to rest before.  Lee jumped from promoting Life of Pi to the equally exhausting Awards circuit without much of a beak.  He'll probably want to take a few months off to relax and recharge.  Having repeatedly and explicitly expressed his desire to direct Cleopatra, I don't expect the thoughtful and even-tempered Lee to abruptly change his mind.  It's just a matter of waiting until he's sufficiently rested and is ready to come to work.  This is such an important, prestige project that there will likely be a press release from the studio heads when they're ready.

Since both Unbroken and Cleopatra look doubtful for this year, a window may have opened for Salt 2 which hired a much better script writer last year. If Sony can move quickly and get a director who meets Angelina's approval, they could be off and running and have a film for late 2014 release.

My personal preference is for Angelina to do Salt 2 first since it's the most age- and time-sensitive of the films she's attached to star in.

-- Fussy




THR

Coen Brothers to Rewrite Angelina Jolie's 'Unbroken' (Exclusive)

4:33 PM PST 2/25/2013 by Borys Kit

Joel, left, and Ethan Coen; inset: Angelina Jolie

Jolie is directing the project centering on World War II survivor Lou Zamperini.

Ethan and Joel Coen are teaming up with Angelina Jolie to tell the story of World War II hero Lou Zamperini.

The Coen brothers have been tapped to rewrite Unbroken, the adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 book, for Universal -- which has been trying to mount a Zamperini story in some form or fashion for decades.

Universal picked up the rights to the book in January 2011, initially for Francis Lawrence to direct. Jolie boarded as director in December. She has spent weeks searching for top-flight writers to tackle the project, with sources saying the director was extremely choosy.

William Nicholson and Richard LaGravenese worked on previous drafts pre-Jolie.

Zamperini was a Los Angeles high school track star who raced in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 1943, his Air Force plane crashed in the Pacific. He survived without food and water for 47 days, enduring shark attacks, aerial attacks and hunger before washing ashore on a Japanese island behind enemy lines, where he was held as a prisoner of war for two years and tortured by his captors.

Jolie is producing with Matthew Baer and Erwin Stoff. Walden Media will co-finance.

Among the top screenwriters in town, the Coens have been nominated five times for Academy Awards in the writing category, winning for No Country for Old Men and Fargo. The brothers usually direct and produce what they write, but they take on assignments in rare cases.

They are repped by UTA.


EW

Angelina Jolie teams up with the Coen brothers

by Lindsey Bahr

Image Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage

 

Joel and Ethan Coen have signed on to work on Angelina Jolie’s next project, EW confirmed Monday. The Oscar-winning screenwriters (Adapted for No Country For Old Men, and Original for Fargo), have agreed to rewrite the script for a film about Lou Zamperini, a former Olympian who was captured by the Japanese Navy while serving as an Air Force pilot in World War II. Jolie will direct.
The script will be based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling 2010 novel Unbroken, but the idea of a Zamperini project has been in the works for decades, with versions by screenwriters such as William Nicholson (Gladiator) and Richard LaGravanese (The Bridges of Madison County). After Zamperini’s B-24 crashed in the Pacific, he and two crew mates (one died at sea) survived on a tiny raft for 47 days, only to be taken prisoner and held in a Japanese internment camp for two and a half years. Assumed to be dead, Zamperini received a hero’s welcome upon his return to the United States and later returned to Japan to carry the Olympic torch at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, not far from where he had been imprisoned during WWII.
This will be Jolie’s first narrative feature since In The Land of Blood And Honey, her directorial debut. The Coen brothers, meanwhile, are best known for their success writing and directing their own projects – though they have written scripts for other directors, including Michael Hoffman’s Gambit, with Alan Rickman and Cameron Diaz, which should be released in the United States sometime in 2013. Regardless, this is an interesting, high-profile partnership on a story that seems to have awards potential written all over it.
Follow @ldbahr



Guardian

Angelina Jolie signs up Coen brothers for historical drama Unbroken

Oscar-winning film-makers will rewrite initial draft of Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand's tale of US war hero Lou Zamperini

• Ben Child
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 26 February 2013 13.13 GMT

Landing the Coen brothers to work on Unbroken would mark a coup for Angelina Jolie in her second directorial outing. Photograph: Hutchinsphoto/Demotix/Corbis

She could have not have scored a more impressive coup than hiring the Coens, who have two Oscar screenwriting wins for No Country For Old Men and Fargo, and have been nominated five times. Unbroken follows Jolie's directing debut, the controversial, harrowing 2011 Balkan conflict drama In the Land of Blood and Honey.




 Ang Lee bites into an In-N-Out burger

 TMZ photo

Next

From all indications, Lee will imminently be signing on to helm Cleopatra.  He's currently in a close race with Steven Spielberg for Best Director with many Oscarologists tipping him to win.  It will be the second for either.  Perhaps he and Sony will make it official after the Oscars.

THR

Oscars: What's Next for the Nominated Directors

9:00 AM PST 2/20/2013 by Borys Kit , Tatiana Siegel 

David O. Russell heads to the 1970s, Ang Lee wants Angelina Jolie in "Cleopatra" -- and Steven Spielberg's still undecided.

MICHAEL HANEKE
The Amour helmer is directing the Mozart opera Cosi fan tutte in Madrid. After Spain, Haneke will take the light and breezy production -- a far cry from his films -- to La Monnaie in Brussels, where it will premiere May 23. Following Cosi's final curtain calls, the Austrian will turn his attention to writing his next movie.

ANG LEE
Although the Life of Pi director told THR in January that he really wants to direct Angelina Jolie in Sony's Cleopatra, he's not attached -- yet. "I'm about to read the script," Lee said at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. "It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done."

PHOTOS: Oscars 2013: 16 Icons Come Together for THR's Oscar Issue

DAVID O. RUSSELL
The director begins filming a still-untitled drama in New York and Boston in March that reunites him with Silver Linings Playbook star Bradley Cooper and The Fighter's Christian Bale and Amy Adams. He's also signed on to direct Jennifer Lawrence again in The Weinstein Co. drama The Ends of the Earth.

STEVEN SPIELBERG
Now that Robopocalypse is on ice, the Lincoln helmer is mulling -- but undecided on -- his next directing vehicle. He is said to be interested in a George Gershwin biopic, and he's executive producing Jurassic Park IV (there's little chance he would direct) and prepping the 3D theatrical release of the first Jurassic Park.

BENH ZEITLIN
Zeitlin is writing an original screenplay that he will direct next for Beasts of the Southern Wild distributor Fox Searchlight. The filmmaker is keeping plot details close to the vest, but the project has been described as a Louisiana-set story about a place with an abnormal aging proces

Lee

L.A. Times

Director Ang Lee preserves Chinese tradition on film sets

By Daniel Miller

February 18, 2013, 11:57 a.m.

Before production began on 20th Century Fox's "Life of Pi," director Ang Lee led his cast and crew through a Chinese ritual that has become a tradition marking the first day of each of his film shoots.
Arrayed on a table near a soundstage in Taichung, Taiwan, were offerings such as fruit, cakes, tea and flowers.
Lee lit incense and said prayers directed toward each of the four cardinal directions. Known as a "big luck" ceremony, it ended with the Oscar-winning director switching on a movie camera and striking a gong. Then the group ate the offerings presented on the table with the sweet scent of incense hanging in the air.
"I really treasure that moment," said Lee, recalling the January 2010 ceremony for "Pi," the 3-D epic that is nominated for 11 Academy Awards and has become a surprise box office success around the world, generating more than $570 million in ticket sales. "You can really feel it. It's a great way to gather everyone."
Lee, who won an Oscar for 2005's "Brokeback Mountain," said that he has always held the ceremony to mark the beginning of a new film — even early on in his career when he was unsure of how casts and crews would receive it.
When it came time to begin shooting the 1995 film "Sense and Sensibility," the Taiwanese director's fourth film, he worried that the mostly English cast and crew would balk at the "big luck" ritual.
"I was the only Chinese there. My producer James Schamus said, 'You have to do it.' And I said, 'No, I don't want to do it,' " Lee recalled. "But we did a ceremony and people got a kick out of it."
Lee, whose rigorous "Pi" promotional tour in Asia helped make the film a hit in countries such as China and Japan, said that the ceremony is not overtly religious — a point he emphasizes to casts and crews. "You pray to whoever is up there blessing us," he said.
Though fruits and cakes are staples of Lee's ceremony, the offering table isn't restricted to such benign fare: When Lee can obtain a whole cooked pig, one is included.
Lee said that people enjoy the ceremony, but on more than one occassion it has left a crew member unsettled.
"Crews are asking, 'Do we have to do this every day?' " he said, laughing.

Lee VFX

Nikki Finke ‏@NikkiFinke

RT @DigitalLA: Ang Lee wins #VES Visionary Award, says 'It's not visual FX, it's visual art'

Anne Thompson ‏@akstanwyck

Our industry is going to be ok says eric roth. #ves awards. Richard Edlund: life achievement award winner. Visionary award winner: Ang lee.





DaveTynan ‏@dave_tynan

So Ang Lee does master shots in 27mm as 25 is too wide. Specific for someone who's considered an "actor's director."

From The Wrap

How Ang Lee Took a Tiger by the Tail to Create 'Life of Pi'

By Sharon Waxman

It would have been foolish to predict what “Life of Pi” -- has become: a box-office phenomenon that has swept one country after another, a game changer in its use of 3D and computer graphics and a critical darling with 11 Oscar nominations including best picture, director, screenplay, cinematography and two for composer Mychael Danna.
“It still comes as a surprise,” director Ang Lee told TheWrap. “But a wonderful surprise. For a long time I felt that it’s a privilege to even make this movie. So we’re very happy.”
Everything about “Life of Pi,” based on the bestselling novel by Yann Martel, represented an uncommon risk. A pensive drama without a single movie star or, for that matter, a face vaguely familiar to American audiences, the project cost $130 million, highly unusual in today’s Hollywood. (Even “Les Misérables” cost just $60 million.)
Further, the movie takes place almost entirely on the ocean, in 3D and with a CG tiger, factors that required technological machinations not guaranteed to work. Beyond that, given its ponderous price tag, the movie had to appeal to a very broad audience to pay off.
Also read: 'Life of Pi': Profitability Is as Stunning as Its Oscar Splash
And it has. An uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit and the power of imagination, “Life of Pi” has been embraced across cultures and nations around the globe, with the movie setting new benchmarks in China, sweeping Latin America and taking in $450 million worldwide while still in release.
“The pattern of how this movie plays is kind of strange. I’ve never experienced it before,” Lee said of “Pi’s” overwhelming international appeal. “It was made to be a big movie, with lots of commercials everywhere. But it’s a philosophical movie -- an Indian boy, a digital tiger, an ambiguous ending. I didn’t know if it would work or not.”
The novel tells the story of a shipwrecked Indian boy, Pi, adrift on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, and adds a twist at the end to make you question everything you’ve read. “Pi’s” journey to the screen took the better part of a decade and began conventionally enough. Producer Gil Netter sent Fox 2000 veteran producer Elizabeth Gabler the book shortly after it was published, and they optioned it for Fox in 2002.

She commissioned a script from Dean Georgaris for director M. Night Shyamalan, but Georgaris never completed it. Director Alfonso Cuaron (“Children of Men”) signed on and then left. Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Delicatessen”) picked up the project, then he dropped out, too.
Also read: How 'Life of Pi' Animators Visualized Ang Lee's Blank Slate
Finally she approached Lee, whom she’d admired for years. “He told me I was crazy,” Gabler said. “I told him he had to do it.”
The problem was, most people considered the story of young Pi to be unmakeable. You couldn’t film it with real tigers.

Could a computer-generated tiger be believable? For Lee, who was revered for such movies as “Brokeback Mountain” and “Sense and Sensibility,” but who had also learned a lot making the tech-heavy but unsuccessful “Hulk,” the impossibility of the challenge was part of the appeal.
“That’s a small part,” he confessed. “That’s ego. But that’s not a good enough reason. Artistically, it’s a philosophical book. The movie has an unfriendly ending. It pulls the rug out from the audience’s feet. Your attention is mandatory.”
And those difficulties, to Lee, were irresistible. “It’s challenging, but it’s a thrill. If you can do it, you can swagger around. When people say, ‘How the hell did you do that?’ there’s a certain amount of satisfaction.” The night before Lee spoke to the TheWrap, he had been at a critics’ award ceremony where he was approached by Steven Spielberg. “He said to me, ‘I tried to figure out how you do that,’ Of course, that’s nice!”
Also read: 'Life of Pi' Review: Ang Lee Takes a Leap of Faith - and Soars
But back to the movie: Lee dove into making the story his own, conducting intensive research on tigers and computer graphics, and investigating the logistics of creating a set where the ocean would seem like a real character. He decided to do the film in 3D. The price continued to rise -- and with it the anxiety of then-Fox chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman.
Gabler recalled: “Tom and Jim said, ‘We can’t make this movie. It’s too risky. Give it back to him.’” Lee got on a plane to Los Angeles. At a meeting with the studio chiefs, he showed an animated mock-up of the shipwreck scene, complete with swimming zebras. And he showed them a 12-minute tape of an unknown actor, Suraj Sharma, reciting the monologue from the end of the movie: Pi, in a hospital bed, recounting an alternative, grisly fate that could have befallen the survivors of a shipwreck. “When we saw it, the lights came up, and they said OK,” said Gabler.
So the studio, in Lee’s words, “sweated it out” with him over four years, gambling on the notion that the film just might be the international hit it would have to be to make back Fox’s investment.

The time included three months of rehearsal with the inexperienced Sharma and another seven months shooting. The Taiwanese government gave favorite son Lee an abandoned airport where the filmmakers built a series of soundstages, saving the production millions.
One studio was used to build a massive water tank, where the challenge was to simulate the waves of a vast ocean and not see the water that bounced off the sides of a tank. They built 12 machines to suck in water and shoot it out, creating two-story waves and endless ripples.
“Water is the hardest element, and with an ocean movie with a large quantity of water to deal with, you’re just humbled,” said Lee, the week Oscar nominations were announced. “The
ocean has to be a character, but I needed some control.”
Also read: For 'Life of Pi,' the Secret to Its Sound Is in the Silence
Another studio was used to house four real tigers, which were studied in minute detail by visual-effects specialists in order to create the fearsome CG feline named Richard Parker, for reasons explained early in the film. The tiger’s scenes are mostly CG, but the computerized cat is indistinguishable from the sparsely used footage of the real animals. This part had to be believable, said Lee.
“I didn’t know if the [CG] tiger would perform like a tiger and not a human. If it didn’t, the whole thing would fall apart.”
The work in post-production went on for over a year, as layer after layer was added to the initial footage by the Rhythm and Hues Studios, to create the menagerie of animals and the spectacular effects in scenes like one with thousands of flying fish, or the elegiac image of a bioluminescent sea overtaken by a whale breaching the surface.

Fox

As for Sharma, Lee took the 17-year-old novice under his wing, teaching him method acting and guiding him in yoga practice. The two became inseparable, and Sharma watched as Lee increasingly took on the qualities of the character Pi. “He himself is a very intense person,” Sharma told TheWrap. “Ang moved toward Pi right through the movie. It was really intense. And in many ways I feel like he was a little like Pi; the way he thinks is similar. The aura is similar. He has that similar patience with things but a certain perseverance to it. But nice at the same time -- I can’t explain it. It’s the way his back is bent … Ang is a lot like his work. It’s very simple from the outside but it has a lot of complexities on the inside. Kind of like Pi.”
For Lee, the result was one that both exhausted and exhilarated him. The story of Pi, he says, is the story of the essence of filmmaking.
“It’s a project that examines illusion. The power of storytelling. The importance of illusion -- is it more real than what we can prove?” he reflected.  “I’m a storyteller. I create illusions. I believe in that more than in things I can touch. And this gets to the bottom of it all.”

Director

Kristopher Tapley ‏@kristapley

Misses biggest reason of all: He's the star of his film. RT @goldderby 5 reasons why Ang Lee can win Best Director: http://bit.ly/WYZZey

From Gold Derby

Five reasons why Ang Lee ('Life of Pi') can win Best Director at Oscars

By Tariq Khan

1. He really does deserve it.
If you ask yourself to pick the nominee in this category whose work can truly be described as the best achievement in directing, whose name would you select? I honestly believe that many people would have to say Ang Lee for “Life of Pi.”

Turning the acclaimed novel into a live-action feature film was widely thought to be impossible by most critics. How could the larger-than-life tiger, a central character in the book, be accurately (and believably) presented on the screen? How could the thoughts of the young hero carry the film for long periods of time? And where would they find a teenage Indian actor to play such a physically demanding and mentally exhausting role?
Not only did Lee succeed on all fronts, he made “Pi” the most visually stunning cinematic experience of the year. Academy members are smart, and they’ll surely take all of these factors into account as they mark their ballots.

2. There’s currently no clear-cut favorite.
Now that Ben Affleck has won the DGA and “Argo” seems headed for Best Picture victory, the directing race is completely wide open.
Many consider Steven Spielberg to be out front, but is he really? While “Lincoln” does have more nominations than any other picture, it’s performed quite poorly at all of the pre-Oscar awards. Spielberg has won the directing trophy twice before, for films which either won Best Picture (“Schindler’s List”) or came very close (“Saving Private Ryan.”)


Read the rest at Gold Derby

bits

From HitFix, In Contention

Off the Carpet: Ang Lee's position in all of this

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming

By Kristopher Tapley Monday, Jan 28, 2013 1:31 PM

I have to say, it was nice to spend a week or so away from the Oscar fray, and for its part, the Oscar fray seemed to be very content with putting things on hold while the Sundance Film Festival did its thing in the mountains of Utah. I guess maybe that's one good thing about this season's scheduling change: room to breathe in January.
But the festival is over and now it's back to our regularly scheduled programming, with the deep dive happening this weekend as the guild awards got going. And the question rises once again: What's going to win Best Picture? Though that would seem to have been answered by the events of the last two days, it's still a question for some.
But I'll leave that for now. Lately I've been curious about the Best Director race. With an "Argo" win would obviously come a split director decision (unless that write-in stuff finds traction). My instinct has been Steven Spielberg, because "Lincoln" is a hell of an accomplishment and even if I'm betting "Argo" will reap the benefits of the preferential ballot system (born out by its victory Saturday), it still makes sense for Spielberg to get some love.
But what about Ang Lee? "Life of Pi" is clearly strong throughout, and I started wondering about its potential to win Best Picture and a whole lot more besides right after the nominations. (That's the fun of this season, by the way -- I don't think I've gone back and forth so much in an Oscar race.) But each and every time Lee has been in the race, it's been a tight and interesting year for Best Director.

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It started in 1995, when he was snubbed by the directors branch for Best Picture nominee "Sense and Sensibility" after netting a DGA nod. Interestingly enough, that was the same year Ron Howard won the DGA after also getting snubbed by the directors branch, which is an instance many are pointing to to back up the notion that Affleck could pull off the same feat next weekend. Lee and Howard were replaced by Chris Noonan ("Babe") and Tim Robbins ("Dead Man Walking") by the Academy's directors branch.
Five years later came probably the tightest Oscar race we'd see until this year. In 2000, "Gladiator" was our Best Picture winner, yet Ridley Scott never seemed like a safe bet for Best Director. That's probably because, after Lee won the DGA for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," his film was suddenly a potential winner of the big prize. Then on Oscar night, Steven Soderbergh shocked them both by winning Best Director for "Traffic." That's how you get a split: a tight race.
Five MORE years later, we got one of the great (overblown) scandals in recent Oscar history. Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" dominated the precursor circuit and appeared to be the chosen one. On Oscar night, nothing seemed amiss as the film won Best Adapted Screenplay as expected and Lee picked up his first Oscar ever for Best Director. Then Jack Nicholson opened the envelope and out came "Crash" (and a lot of bitching).
And now, seven years removed from that night, Lee is in another interesting position. He's likely battling it out with Spielberg for the trophy this year. Michael Haneke, David O. Russell and Benh Zeitlin all feel like longshots. And if Affleck or Bigelow were in the mix, they'd be predicted by many, I'm sure. Does the Academy let awards for (maybe) screenplay and actor suffice for "Lincoln" and go with Lee? Do they let crafts category wins suffice for "Life of Pi" and go with Spielberg? Who knows?
It could be a mystery all the way up until the envelope is opened. The BAFTA Awards are two weeks from today. Perhaps they'll help shed some light on a couple of races, like Best Actress, where there is still some question about Emmanuelle Riva. Will "Life of Pi" come on strong there? It certainly could. And maybe the Best Director field will suddenly be illuminated, and Ang Lee will pull off his second Academy win, in yet another bizarre Oscar race.
He's used to them by now.

Lee "probably"

Thoughts

It was clear from his first remarks to THR, but if anyone needs further proof that Ang Lee is excited to direct Cleopatra, his recent pronouncement that he will probably accept Sony's offer even though he hasn't read the script should settle the issue.

Cleopatra at long last has all the key pieces in place -- producer, star, studio, script and director.  It took Sony, Rudin and Jolie two years to finally land a suitable director but Lee is well worth the wait for there is no one better suited.  I expect that everyone will abide by Lee's timetable and production will start as soon as he is ready.  So while she has other projects including Unbroken percolating, Cleopatra now takes priority over everything else on Angelina's plate.

The big question is when they will be able to start filming.  Lee told HitFix he plans to take an extended break in the weeks leading up to the Oscars and his trip home to Taiwan last week may be the start of his vacation.  He may be ready to start work on Cleopatra when he gets back to L.A. near the end of Feb.

Since some scenes will need to be filmed on location in Egypt, a Fall start coincides with the best season to visit the country and gives Lee enough time to do prep work.  Deserts can be a challenging environment but Lee has previous experience filming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon under difficult conditions in the Gobi Desert in China. 

Preproduction shouldn't take longer than normal even for a big-budget historical epic.  Robert Stromberg was announced as Maleficent's director on Janruary 6, 2012 and filming began June 13.  Assuming Lee starts working in earnest after the Oscars, a Fall start would afford him as much prep time as Stromberg needed for an equally large and elaborate production.  Cleopatra will have lavish sets but most of the work of bringing Alexandria and the glories of Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt back to life will have to be done in post-production VFX.  Cleopatra will probably have almost as much blue and green screen work as Maleficent but they'll be recreating lavish palaces and massive armies instead of fairy castles and fantastical creatures.

It will be interesting to see if Angelina can squeeze in another film before heading off to Egypt.  If she has the time and inclination, it would likely be to star in a small drama or be part of an ensemble much like Brad's appearances in 12 Years A Slave and The Counselor last year.  Co-starring in Shantaram is certainly a possibility but she won't have time to direct it as well.

With Cleopatra looming and now her top priority, Angelina is probably looking at late 2014 for Unbroken. That will give her time to work on the script which Deadline said she still needs to finalize and to hold auditions and get her cast in place.  The most logistically challenging part to film in Zamperini's story is his 47 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean but she can turn to Ang Lee for advice and maybe even use the facilities he built for similar scenes in Life of Pi.  Once she starts work on Unbroken, she will be unavailable for any other film for 12 to 18 months so Sony and the other studios that have projects for her will want to get them in first.

Sony is eager to get Salt 2 off the ground and they've hired a good scriptwriter so there's a possibility they could have a script and director acceptable to Angelina by the time she finishes Cleopatra.  Everything else on her plate looks like it may be further behind in development but there's always the possibility of something unannounced jumping to the head of the line.

- Fussy





"I'm about to read the script.  It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”  -- THR

"Sony has asked me to shoot the movie and Angelina Jolie wrote to me to express her wishes to collaborate. We admire each other... the project looks very attractive. It's a big-budget movie so I am carefully evaluating it ... this is a rare opportunity and I will probably take it."  -- AFP

Taiwanese film director Ang Lee, left, and his wife, Jane Lin, smile for the media after arriving in Taiwan from Japan yesterday.Jan 19, 2013

FULL STORY

Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times

Agence France-Presse ‏@AFP 

Oscar-winner Ang Lee is likely to direct the historical epic 'Cleopatra', starring Angelina Jolie http://goo.gl/4uFKI

From AFP

Ang Lee mulls directing historical epic "Cleopatra"

(AFP) – 19 minutes ago

TAIPEI: Oscar-winning director Ang Lee said Saturday he will "probably" accept an offer to direct historical epic "Cleopatra" starring Angelina Jolie, after the Hollywood actress wrote to him asking him to come on board.

Lee, whose 3D adventure "Life of Pi" has earned 11 Oscar nominations, said he would read the script before making a decision but the project was "very attractive".

"Sony has asked me to shoot the movie and Angelina Jolie wrote to me to express her wishes to collaborate. We admire each other... the project looks very attractive," the Taiwanese-American told reporters in Taipei.

"It's a big-budget movie so I am carefully evaluating it ... this is a rare opportunity and I will probably take it."

Lee returned to his birth place over the weekend to celebrate after "Life of Pie" earned 11 Oscar nominations, including best picture and best director.

The movie, based on the novel by Yann Martel about an Indian boy cast adrift with a Bengal tiger, has become Lee's highest-grossing film ever with more than $450 in global box office sales, according to 20th Century Fox.

About 70 per cent of the movie was shot in Taiwan, including at a now-abandoned airport in the centre of the country where Lee's team built a specially designed wave-generating tank.

Asked if he plans to cast his son Mason Lee, who starred in "The Hangover Part II", in his future projects, Lee joked that he would rather not "torture" his kin.

"He likes acting and I give him my blessings... I am tough on actors but it's difficult to be tough on your own son and it'd be an unnecessary torture for us. I'd rather torture other people's kids."

The filmmaker, who is based in New York, was hailed as the "glory of Taiwan" after becoming the first Asian to win a best director Oscar for his gay cowboy drama "Brokeback Mountain" in 2007.

Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved.

3D

Thoughts

Lee told Greg Ellwood of HitFix he doesn't yet know what his next movie will be but hints that it may not be small and it may be in 3D.

If you'll recall, while James Cameron was toying with the idea of directing Cleopatra it was envisioned to be in 3D. 

Awards season ends with the Oscars on Feb 24 and Lee may not have the time before then to sit down with Sony head Amy Pascal, producer Scott Rudin and Angelina Jolie for in-depth discussions about Cleopatra's script and his vision.  But his thoughts on the size of his next project and  his interest in incorporating 3D give us hints of where he may be headed.   Sony eyed Lee even before Life of Pi screened and they may not have known how well it would turn out, but they now have someone who can fulfill their original grand vision of making Cleopatra a dazzling, 3D epic.

The HitFix article states that "Besides attending numerous award season events over the next six weeks, Lee plans on taking a significant break."  That could mean anything from a few weeks to a few months so he may not begin working on Cleopatra until Spring or Summer for a possible Fall start.

Lee told THR in Palm Springs (Jan. 5) that he was about to read the script.   Between the time he finished with Pi and his latest interview (Jan. 10), he changed his mind about the size and scale of his next film.  He told HitFix, "Y'know, for a long time I thought the next one has to be small because I was so tired and exhausted, now I think on 3D, 'Yeah, if I can afford it.'  I don't know what the next movie will be, but yeah 3D, I'll try it again."  He sounded particularly excited when talking about Cleopatra to THR because it was different from anything he had done before.  "It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”  He repeated that trend of thought with HitFix. "[I'm interested] in anything in the movies that I feel so new to it and 3D is one of those things.  I'd like to try it again."

You can glean from his statements his plans and excitement for Cleopatra.  He seems energized by all the possibilities it presents and how it fits perfectly in his filmmography.  As a sidenote, you can contrast Lee's more palpable enthusiasm for Cleopatra with David Fincher's who sounded more excited about the idea of working with Angelina than with the material.: 

That's something I would love to do with Angie [Jolie]. I would love to do so many things with Angie. It's something that was brought to me that you have to take seriously. [Producer] Scott [Rudin] has this wonderful book, and hopefully [screenwriter] Eric [Roth] can find a way in. I'm not interested in a giant sword-and-sandal epic. We've seen scope; everyone knows we can fake that. That stuff doesn't impress in the way that it did even 10 years ago. We expect that from Starz [now]. So that's not the reason to do that. What is it about this character that has purchased this place in our history and imagination that is relatable today?  -  MTV    

“Cleopatra, I haven’t even begun. I’ve just spoken with Angie [Angelina Jolie] and Eric [Roth] and I’m trying to figure out how to weigh in. It’s just a discussion about what can it be, what are people expecting, what do we need to do to destroy that?”  -  Collider

So while I am eager to see Fincher and Jolie do a film together, Cleopatra would have been a case of forcing a square peg into a round hole.  As Sam Riley said recently about her work in Maleficent, she likes to be subversive.  We first saw signs of it with her choice of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck for The Tourist, and while that didn't work out well, the idea of having an Oscar-winning director try his hand at a light Hitchcokian thriller was intriguing.  We saw glimpses of it again when Darren Aronofsky's name was floated for Maleficent.  But after flirting with a Cameron-directed 3D spectacle, Fincher's vision sounded too far afield to risk for such an important subject.  Since they are eager to work together, I am sure Fincher and Jolie will get their chance to collaborate soon in a genre that is more suited to Fincher's skills.

-- Fussy


Cleo around the 13:07 mark
From MTV
Dec 19 2011 9:56 AM EST

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

From HitFix

Ang Lee celebrates 'Life of Pi's' Oscar nominations and wants to try 3D again

On the nominations: 'way more than I thought'

By Gregory Ellwood Thursday, Jan 10, 2013 7:45 PM

Credit: AP Photo/Chris PIzzello

Ang Lee likely woke up this morning knowing his critically acclaimed 3D epic "Life of Pi" would earn a number of key Academy Awards nominations.  Speaking to HitFix earlier today, the helmer of of such classics as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Brokeback Mountain" admitted that he wasn't expecting "Pi" to land a mammoth 11 nominations.

"Way more than I thought," Lee says with a chuckle. "I was surprised. It was a good surprise."

Lee continues, "I'm happy for all of them. They are all my friends. They give their heart and soul into this thing. So, everyone is good. Some were unexpected like sound. There was no indication that sound mixing and sound editing would happen. So, that's great. I was anxious to see the writer, editor who worked very hard and music. I hope at least they would get in. Effects was pretty sure, would get in. (Laughs.)"

The 58-year-old director spent four years making "Pi," a picture that many wondered could work cinematically let alone find an audience. Sometime this weekend, however, "Pi" should cross the $400 million mark worldwide. It's been a study of studio 20th Century Fox having faith in their film, patience with it finding an audience and, honestly, a lot of luck.

"First of all, it could be a strange movie. You don't know where it's going," Lee says. "So, just making the movie it was really worth it as an experience. All of us - the whole company - have been working on this movie for four years, so everything else is bonus.  Especially because it's a slow moving process. It took awhile before [box office] picked up, so it's even more rewarding is that the movie speaks for itself and it prevailed. People went to see it and now the nominations. It's a very slow process. That's the thing with this movie. Everything goes uphill and then you have this movie."

"Pi" has resonated around the world, but particularly in Asia. Lee appreciates how different audiences from different backgrounds have deciphered the film and what it means.

"What warmed my heart the most is how they talk about the ending," Lee says. "They go and see the movie again and they see the first story as a different story.  Most people internalize the first story. This is very common in Asia. So, that make me particularly happy. That was what I was aiming for.

Besides attending numerous award season events over the next six weeks, Lee plans on taking a significant break. As for his next project, Lee sounds intrigued by the idea of working in 3D once again.

"There are so many possibilities. Y'know, for a long time I thought the next one has to be small because I was so tired and exhausted," Lee says. " Now I think on 3D, 'Yeah, if I can afford it.'  I don't know what the next movie will be, but yeah 3D, I'll try it again. [I'm interested] in anything in the movies that I feel so new to it and 3D is one of those things.  I'd like to try it again."

Lee

Eric Roth has finally finished with the script for Cleopatra that just last month Sony's Amy Pascal told Anne Thompson she was still waiting for.  At the time, Ang Lee was one of 3 directors on Sony's shortlist, but given his recent statements to THR, for all intents and purposes Lee is now on board.

This is a passion project for Pascal, Jolie and producer Scott Rudin and its good to hear Lee sounding equally excited.  I imagine that once Lee officially signs, it will be promptly greenlit and they'll want to quickly grab whatever free slots Angelina has in her and Brad's calendar.  Assuming the script is acceptable to everyone and won't require more than a few minor revisions, pre-production work can proceed in earnest and it could be ready to start filming by Fall.

During her trip to Egypt last year, Angelina said she wanted to return to the country with Cleopatra's director to check out filming locations.  There were also previous reports that some pre-production work including talks with potential principal cast members had taken place.  So Ang Lee is taking over a project that has already covered considerable ground.  Even if he'll need to go over them again, he won't be starting from scratch as preliminary brainstorming has been done.

The next big news on this project will obviously be Angelina's co-stars especially the actors who'll be playing Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.  Judging by the cast she assembled for Maleficent, her choices here should at least be equally impressive.  Daniel Day Lewis and Javier Bardem were previously rumored and both have free slates this year.  It would be incredible if both joined.

Angelina will likely be doing prep work on Unbroken while working on Cleopatra. She could well seek Lee's advice on how to shoot the scenes where Louis Zamperini is adrift on a raft for 1 1/2 months and struggles with deprivation, the elements, sharks etc. before being captured by the Japanese.  Lee's Life of Pi has almost identical scenes which yielded some of the film's most spectacular shots and for which he had specially built tanks in his native Taiwan.

 -- Fussy



From Production Weekly

“CLEOPATRA” Feature Film 11-17-11 
SCOTT RUDIN PRODUCTIONS
120 W. 45th St., 10th Fl., New York, NY 10036
PHONE: 212-704-4600 FAX: 212-869-8557
STATUS: Development
PRODUCER: Scott Rudin WRITER: Brian Helgeland - Eric Roth DIRECTOR: Ang Lee CAST: Angelina Jolie
COLUMBIA PICTURES 10202 W. Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232 310-244-4000
Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, two of the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra
had a son with Caesar and--after his murder--three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since. Based on the novel Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff.



From HitFix

Ang Lee aiming to direct Angelina Jolie in 'Cleopatra'

'Life of Pi' helmer would replace previous contender David Fincher

By HitFix Staff Wednesday, Jan 9, 2013 9:13 PM

Credit: AP Photo/Karim Kadim

Will Ang Lee be embarking on a journey to ancient Egypt for his next project?

The "Life of Pi" director, who was previously rumored as a contender for Sony's "Cleopatra" movie starring Angelina Jolie after David Fincher exited talks, has confirmed his interest in taking on the historical drama in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

"I'm about to read the script," said Lee. "It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”

Indeed, Lee has been known for taking on a wide variety of genres over the span of his long career, from superhero flicks (2003's "Hulk") to costume dramas (1995's "Sense and Sensibility") to, erm, gay cowboy romances (2005's "Brokeback Mountain"). So in addition to the lure of an A-list leading lady and a powerhouse producer in Oscar-hungry Scott Rudin, "Cleopatra" would also allow him to check "historical epic" off his career bucket list.
Based on the acclaimed 2011 biography "Cleopatra: A Life" by Stacy Schiff, "Cleopatra" has garnered its share of interest from Hollywood's top directors, with "Bourne" helmer Paul Greengrass and James Cameron also circling the project at one point or another.



From JoBlo

Jan. 9, 2013by: Niki Stephens

LIFE OF PI could have easily been a disaster. After M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón and Jean-Pierre Jeunet left the project, it was finally director Ang Lee who decide that he would take the material into his own hands. What we were left with was an amazing story that was also visually stunning. But can he do the same with CLEOPATRA?
Since David Fincher left the project, it could possibly be something worth while with Angelina Jolie still attached in the lead. All it needs is the right person at the helm. Along with Fincher, Paul Greengrass and James Cameron had also previously be interested in the material.
Lee expressed his interest to THR during the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala, "I'm about to read the script. It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”
The original source material comes from Stacy Schiff's best-selling book, Cleopatra: A Life. However, do not expect the Elizabeth Taylor version of this story: "The major change in this iteration of the Egyptian pharaoh's tale is that it will come from the feminine perspective, portraying Cleopatra as a master strategist rather than a outright seductress." There's gotta be a little sexy in there somewhere.




From THR

Ang Lee Wants to Direct Angelina Jolie in 'Cleopatra'

11:00 AM PST 1/9/2013 by Merle Ginsberg & Gary Baum

Frank W. Ockenfels 3

At Palm Springs, the "Life of Pi" helmer tells THR that the project, which has been linked to Paul Greengrass, James Cameron and David Fincher, "just feels right to me."

This story first appeared in the Jan. 18 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.


Ang Lee confirmed at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala that he really wants to direct Angelina Jolie in Sony and Scott Rudin’s adaptation of the book Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff.

PHOTOS: THR's Director Roundtable
 
"I'm about to read the script," Lee told The Hollywood Reporter exclusively. "It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”

Since it began development in 2010, the project has lost three directors: Paul Greengrass, James Cameron and David Fincher.

PHOTOS: Angelina Jolie's Top 10 Red Carpet Looks

Turns out Cleopatra — played so iconically by Elizabeth Taylor in 1963 — had a love life that went beyond Caesar and Marc Antony: Schiff claims she married each of her two brothers, then slaughtered both.
What — no tiger?



From The Playlist

Ang Lee Now Reading Script For 'Cleopatra' With Angelina Jolie, Says "It Just Feels Right To Me"

 

by Kevin Jagernauth
January 9, 2013 2:41 PM

One could make the case that Ang Lee is a somewhat underappreciated director, simply because his film choices make him a bit of a chameleon. Where other filmmakers tend to stake their claim to a particular milieu, and don't deviate from it too much, Lee has tried it all. From a gay romance, a Civil War-era western, a Woodstock-set comedy, a churning '70s-set domestic drama, an erotic espionage tale and more, to an epic open-sea adventure in this year's Oscar-contending "Life Of Pi," Lee's career has been marked by variety, and a willingness to challenge himself. And that's not about to change. At the end of last summer, it was reported that David Fincher had exited the long-developing "Cleopatra," that has Angelina Jolie attached to star. At the time, it was noted that Sony was already looking at other potential directors, with Ang Lee on their list of names. And it looks like they've been successful not only in tracking him down, but spurring his interest.
"I'm about to read the script," Lee said to The Hollywood Reporter. "It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”
Based on Stacy Schiff‘s “Cleopatra: A Life,” the adaptation has a script by Brian Helgeland, and it's told from a distinctly female perspective, delving into the many facets of the historical figure as warrior, strategist, politician and seductress. The project has been toyed with by more than a few big-name helmers -- James Cameron and Paul Greengrass also took a look in past -- but nothing has stuck yet for Sony, Jolie or producer Scott Rudin. Could Lee unlock this project? We'd definitely be interested to see him take this on.

From Collider

Ang Lee Interested in Directing CLEOPATRA Starring Angelina Jolie

by Adam Chitwood   Posted: January 9th, 2013 at 11:41 am

The long-gestating biopic Cleopatra may have finally found a director, and it’s a good ‘un.  The project has been in development for a number of years with Angelina Jolie attached to star as the Egyptian queen.  Both James Cameron and Paul Greengrass flirted with the idea of directing before ultimately moving on, and most recently David Fincher was attached to the project before dropping off last summer.  The pic has a script by Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), based on Stacy Schiff’s book Cleopatra: A Life, and now another top-tier filmmaker is eyeing the gig: Ang Lee.  Hit the jump for more details.



Speaking with THR, Lee confirmed that he’s interested in helming the pic:

“I’m about to read the script. It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I’ve done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”

Lee is currently in the awards conversation for his stunning adaptation of Life of Pi, and I’d have to agree that Cleopatra just feels right.  The filmmaker is the epitome of versatility  and I’d love to see what he could bring to this character-centric, period Egyptian epic.  Jolie is still attached to star, and Scott Rudin (No Country for Old Men, The Social Network) is producing for Sony Pictures.  There don’t appear to be any firm negotiations in place, but I for one am hoping this works out.
Here’s a synopsis for Schiff’s book Cleopatra: A Life:

Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first and poisoned the second; incest and assassination were family specialties. She had children by Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, two of the most prominent Romans of the day. With Antony she would attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled both their ends. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Her supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. [Amazon]

From Slashfilm
Posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 by Angie Han

Lee confirmed his interest in the biopic to THR. “I’m about to read the script,” he said. “It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I’ve done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.” Brian Helgeland wrote the first draft of that screenplay based on Stacy Schiff‘s biography Cleopatra: A Life, before Eric Roth stepped in to do a rewrite in late 2011.
As previously reported, this version of Cleopatra will be a fresh take on the iconic Egyptian ruler. Here’s producer Scott Rudin‘s description of the new movie:

It is a completely revisionist Cleopatra, a much more grown-up sophisticated version… She’s not a sex kitten, she’s a politician, strategist, warrior. In the Joseph Mankiewicz movie, Elizabeth Taylor is a seductress, but the histories of Cleopatra have been written by men. This is the first to be written by a woman. It felt like such a blow-the-doors-off-the-hinges idea of how to tell it, impossible to resist. We’re pretty close. A lot of directors want to do it, but there is only a handful we’ll make it with.

Lee’s no stranger to strong female characters, having directed films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Sense and Sensibility. Cleopatra seems like a good next step — and, yes, one that’s fairly different from the other films he’s done so far. Here’s hoping this candidate actually sticks around.



From Empire

Ang Lee Flirting With Cleopatra
'I'm about to read the script...'


10 January 2013  |  Written by James White  |  Source: The Hollywood Reporter



In development since at least 2006 – which was when producer Scott Rudin bought the rights to Stacy Schiff’s book Cleopatra: A Life – the latest take on the Egyptian queen’s world has been through the wringer, with more than one director pondering, then ditching the project. It now has a new suitor, in the shape of Ang Lee.
Currently riding high on the success of Life Of Pi, which has won several awards already and seems sure to pick up Oscar nominations, Lee has expressed a desire to tackle the Cleopatra project, which would star Angelina Jolie.
"I'm about to read the script," Lee told The Hollywood Reporter at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala. "It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”
Cleopatra has been the target of at least three directors’ affections in the past, with Paul Greengrass, James Cameron and, most famously, David Fincher all considering the idea. We’ll have to wait and see if Lee manages to make it happen, but given the magic he weaved around Pi after years of Yann Martel’s book being considered unfilmable, he’s earned plenty of trust.


 From Cinemablend

Ang Lee Considering Directing Angelina Jolie's Cleopatra Movie

published: 2013-01-09 13:13:15 Author: Katey Rich

Ang Lee is very likely to get his third Best Director Oscar nomination tomorrow, and Life of Pi will probably scoop up a Best Picture nomination as well-- a nice comeback for the director who last made the little-seen comedy Taking Woodstock. And now that Lee is mulling his next project, he seems to be leaning toward making another project that's huge and high-profile, and that has lost several even huger directors along the way.

Producer Scott Rudin has been shepherding a Cleopatra since 2006, and the likes of David Fincher, James Cameron and Paul Greengrass have all considered it before departing. Now Lee tells The Hollywood Reporter that "I'm about to read the script," and that after all the other films he's done, "It just feels right." Lee continues, "What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”

Lee's right that his filmography is hugely varied, and he's probably feeling pretty good after the giant creative risk of LIfe of Pi paid off so well. With Jolie still attached to Cleopatra it should have no problem getting made as soon as a director commits, and Lee's recent buzz could probably make him just the director to do it. Can he finally help Cleopatra get off the ground and put Jolie in the role she was born for?