Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi is the highly anticipated adaptation of Yann Martel’s 2001 novel of the same name. It revolves around the antics of Pi, a 16-year-old boy who is the only survivor of a sinking freighter.
The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director decided to cast a hoard unrecognisable stars for the film but also employed Spiderman star Tobey Maguire as a writer who interview’s Pi after he is washed ashore in the wake of the disaster.
However, it seems like Lee has now had a change of heart and has decided to cut Maguire’s scenes from the movie , realizing that his presence was too formidable alongside his co-stars.
“To be consistent with the other casting choices made for the film, I decided to go with an entirely international cast,” said Lee. “I very much admire Tobey and look forward to working with him again in the future.”
With The Great Gatsby also being pushed back to a summer 2013 release, all of Maguire’s fall movies have now been taken off the calendar. However, there are no hard feelings between the actor and Lee , who previously worked together on The Ice Storm.
Maguire released his own statement to confirm the director’s decision:
“I fully support Ang’s decision to go a different direction for this role in Life of Pi . Ang shared a lot of the film with me, and what I saw was absolutely beautiful.”
Rafe Spall, the son of English acting legend Timothy, has now filled the role, which should leave Tobey with enough time to fully concentrate his efforts on portraying Bobby Fischer in Pawn Sacrifice.