A newcomer has landed the coveted lead role in Ang Lee‘s forthcoming  adaptation of Yann Martel‘s Life of Pi. Lee also confirmed speculation that the filmwill be shot in 3-D, exceeding the original $50 million budget.

USA Today has the scoop: “Lee cast Suraj Sharma, 17, a Delhi high school student who acted once in a school play, to play Pi Patel, the young man stranded after a shipwreck on a 26-foot lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, zebra, hyena and orangutan. Sharma was one of 3,000 teenage boys who auditioned.’”

Martel published Life of Pi in 2001 with Knopf Canada after being rejected by five London publishers. At the time, he wrote the book to add purpose and direction in his life. Life of Pi went on to win the Man Booker Prize in 2002. (Via National Post)