20th Century Fox has been a long time making the cinematic version of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. 

Over the last eight years or so, everyone from M Night Shyamalan to Jean Pierre Jeunet to Tarsem Singh has courted the project. Then it landed in Ang Lee’s lap, and the first promotional stills hit online a few months ago.

Now, after revealing some  footage at CinemaCon, to impressive reaction I might add, Fox is debuting the first trailer for the film, which also marks Lee’s first foray in 3D territory.

Although I had some issues with Martel’s book, it was an interesting and arresting read, filled with the kind of lyrical imagery that tends to translate well to the screen when you have a visually inclined director onboard. This first peek backs up that Lee was the man for the job. From the images of a boy swimming through a sinking ship to Pi’s discovery of Colonel Parker, the tiger, this looks like a fascinating picture from a visual perspective.

I’m interested to see how the film handles the book’s curious magical realism that occassionally breaks down into narrative trickery.

The Life of Pi stars newcomer Suraj Sharma and  Irffan Khan, Gerard Depardieu and Tabu co-star in the film, which opens in 2D and 3D on November 21st.

Check out the trailer below or in HD over at Apple.