EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning filmmaker Ang Lee has boarded 76 Days, a documentary from Joe Wein, based on Steven Callahan‘s New York Times bestselling memoir Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea, as an executive producer.
Lee comes to the project after collaborating with Callahan on his 2012 Oscar winner Life of Pi. He had the author serve as a consultant on that film, examining an unbelievable story of survival at sea, after learning about Callahan’s own incredible tale in the same vein.
On the eve of February 4, 1982, in the middle of the night, there was a loud boom as a whale collided with Steven’s boat. Within minutes, his small craft was flooded with a rush of water. He grabbed what he could, heaved his life raft into the ocean, and snatched his emergency kit. Without food or water, for an incredible 76 days the inflatable raft was his home as he drifted across the Atlantic Ocean. Forced to come to terms with his own shortcomings and limitations, Steven finds a strength he never knew he had.
76 Days brings the story to life through found 8 mm footage, original stills from the voyage, and first-person recreation. Joe Wein produced the pic and also with it made his directorial debut, with Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump penning its music. Callahan also served as an executive producer.
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While speaking about Life of Pi at the New York Film Festival, Lee said of Callahan’s contributions, “When I started thinking about the script for Life of Pi, I visited him in Maine. I brought Steven back to Taiwan with me to work on Life of Pi as a consultant, not only for the spiritual side but also for his experience, details, and what he went through. [Callahan] is a man we all cherish, who cherishes what’s good in life, and whose faith indeed helps us make the voyage.”
In a statement of Lee’s involvement with 76 Days, Wein told Deadline, “Ang Lee is an enormous inspiration to me as a filmmaker. It’s a great honor to have him aboard ’76 Days’ and we hope his involvement will help bring the film to a wider audience.”
A visually stunning adaptation of Yann Martel’s 2001 novel, Lee’s Life of Pi follows the journey of a young man who forms an unexpected connection out on a boat with a fearsome Bengal tiger, after both survive a disaster at sea. Landing a Best Director Oscar and Best Picture nomination for the Fox film, he also saw it claim statuettes honoring its cinematography, score and groundbreaking visual effects.
Most recently directing the films Gemini Man and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Lee is also responsible for classics including Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Ice Storm, among other works. His sophomore feature The Wedding Banquet currently has a reimagining in the works from filmmaker Andrew Ahn, to star Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang.
Lee is represented by CAA, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Schreck Rose Dapello.