Yesterday’s CinemaCon activities included a presentation of 20th Century Fox’s product reel which featured 10 minutes of the first footage from Oscar-winning director Ang Lee’s The Life of Pi based on the best-selling book.

Deadline reports that Fox co-chairman Tom Rothman “compared the film to innovations and groundbreaking filmmaking techniques the studio experienced with Titanic, Avatar and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”  After the screening, Ang Lee was present to discuss the project, which he has been working on for the past 3 and a half years.  They emphasized that a film of this quality would not have been possible without the advancements in mordern technology, and also spoke of the moving, riveting story.

He [Ang Lee] describes it as “an adventure of hope, wonder, survival, spirituality and faith” and emphasized that the use of 3D is there not as a gimmick but an ”attempt to put you in the emotional space with these characters as much as the action”.

There is already Oscar buzz, award campaigns brewing, and confidence that this feature will rank among the Best Picture nominees.

The Life of Pi covers the story of a zoo-keeper’s son stranded on the open seas with a bengal tiger.  It opens in theaters December 21, 2012.

Are you excited for this movie?  Are you fans of the book?  How do you think Ang Lee will handle all the challenges?  When will we get a glimpse of a trailer?

See two images from the film in our earlier post.