In the recent adaptation of Yann Martel‘s Life of Pi, director Ang Lee included what appears to be a sly reference to the iconic cover art for the book.

Reddit user chrs1979 spotted the image in the film, comparing the images in the photo album embedded above–what do you think?

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has since published a movie tie-in version with a completely different cover.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Life of Pi author Yann Martel gave his stamp of approval for Ang Lee‘s 3D film adaptation. He said that Lee’s film is “incredibly faithful to the book” not only in plot, but also in “the idea, the intent.”

Prior to shooting, Martel met with the director to give feedback on the screenplay. After that, the author took a very hands-off approach with film production.

He explained in the interview: “Early on, I made very clear that I was willing to do whatever they wanted me to do and that I was stepping back because I know my limits. I’m a novelist; it’s my business to write words and construct novels, not to make movies — as much as I love movies. I grew up watching movies.”

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The first official trailer has been released for the film adaptation of Yann Martel‘s Life of Pi. We’ve embedded the trailer above–what do you think?

Oscar-winning director Ang Lee cast newcomer Suraj Sharma as Pi Patel. Other cast members include Tobey Maguire as Yann Martel, Irrfan Khan as Older Pi and Ayush Tandon as Younger Pi. The movie will hit theaters on November 21st.

Here’s more from CLICK: “Life of Pi has been in some stage of production since 2003, with several names attached including M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuaron and Jean-Pierre Jenuet. Lee was the one who finally managed to get it to principal photography, based on a script by Magee who also wrote the rather nice Finding Neverland. As you can probably tell from the presentation above, The Life of Pi was also shot in 3D and the colourful visuals might actually make for a decent extra dimensional experience for a change.” (via Publishers Weekly)

Release dates have been announced for the Peter Jackson‘s two Hobbit movies.

According to Variety, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will come out on December 14, 2012 and The Hobbit: There and Back Again will hit theaters on December 13, 2013. The video embedded above features a tour of The Hobbit‘s set.

Here’s more from the article: “Jackson began shooting the two films in New Zealand in 3D in mid-March with a cast including Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Bloom joined the cast Friday to portray the elf Legolas.”

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Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire (pictured, via) has joined the cast in Ang Lee‘s adaptation of Life of Pi. According to Deadline, “Maguire will play a writer who interviews the boy as an adult.”

We wrote earlier that 17-year-old Suraj Sharma will debut in the lead role of Pi Patel. Other cast members include Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain.

MovieLoverNews.com reports that shooting for Life of Pi will take place in Taiwan and India. Tentative release is set for December 2012.

Author Yann Martel has a straightforward method for choosing selections for public readings: “it has to work orally.” In an interview with the National Post, the novelist shared author reading advice.

Martel explained: “In other words, people have to be able to get it hearing it and hearing it only once. Description isn’t usually a good choice. Dialogue or a scene with action works best.”

In 2002, Martel won the Man Booker Prize for Life of Pi. The novel will be adapted into a 3-D film by Oscar-winning director, Ang Lee. Lee has cast 17-year-old Suraj Sharma as lead protagonist, Pi Patel.

As we head home for the weekend, we wanted to make sure you had plenty of publishing headlines to keep you busy. Email GalleyCat to get all our publishing stories, book deal news, videos, podcasts, interviews, and writing advice in a daily email newsletter.

We revealed our Book Pitch Party finalists, so follow this link to RSVP–you’ll meet publishing professionals and aspiring writers at the party next week.

We found out that fictional Mad Men character Roger Sterling will publish his memoir in real life.

Danny DeVito will star in an an adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, joined by Zac Efron and Betty White.

The parenting handbook What To Expect When You’re Expecting will be adapted as romantic comedy.

Barnes & Noble unveiled a Color Nook (see the video embedded above) and eBook readers debated: was it revolutionary or a mistake?

After considering thousands of actors, director Ang Lee cast unknown Suraj Sharma as the lead in his 3-D Life of Pi adaptation.

Johnny Depp narrated the audiobook for Keith Richards’  memoir, Life.

After protests and governmental negotiations, The Hobbit will be filmed in New Zealand.

Still want more? Check out our Weekend Reading archives.

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)

An adaptation of Yann Martel‘s bestselling Life of Pi seems to be back on track as producers hope to launch the project with Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain and Hulk) directing a 3-D adaptation.

According to Thompson on Hollywood, the producers are projecting a $70 million for “a 3-D magical fantasy adventure crammed with visual effects.” The screenplay was written by David Magee–who wrote another sort of adaptation with Finding Neverland.

Here’s more from Fox 2000 president Elizabeth Gabler, from the article: “It has a gigantic visual effects component … You can’t put a live tiger in a boat with a child. It has elements of Castaway, when the kid is alone in the boat. You don’t need language to convey what’s on the screen. We need to make the movie for the whole world.”