Debuting to very promising early reviews at NYFF, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi is coming in as a strong contender with the Oscars just on the horizon.

With its US release just two weeks away, we’ve seen more than enough to suggest this should be one of the year’s best films, and now Fox have released the first international TV spot giving us yet further cause to raise our anticipation.

“Director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) creates a groundbreaking movie event about a young man who survives a tragic disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While marooned on a lifeboat, he forms an amazing and unexpected connection with the ship’s only other survivor — a fearsome Bengal tiger.”

Newcomer Suraj Sharma takes the lead in the coming epic drama, supported by Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, and Gérard Depardieu, with Lee directing from a script by Oscar-nominated David Magee (Finding Neverland), adapting the critically acclaimed novel by Yann Martel.

Life of Pi will be released in 3D in the US on 21st November, just in time for Thanksgiving. Here in the UK, it will be coming slightly later, with a release set for 20th December, neatly timed for Christmas. I can’t wait; this looks amazing. For now, here’s the great first TV spot to give you an idea what’s coming our way soon.

[yframe url=’www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeKm26vwYXQ’]