Academy Award winner director Ang Lee has signed on to direct the pilot the Fox series "Tyrant"
The pilot will mark Lee's first directing gig since his film "Life of Pi" and will also feature his TV debut. The pilot tells the story of an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation.
Fox president John Ladgraf announced the news on March 14th and stated "Ang Lee has demonstrated time and again an ability to present characters with such depth and specificity that they reveal the universal human condition." He added "No one could be a more perfect film maker to bring Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff and Craig Wright's Tyrant to indelible life."
Homeland scribes Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff and Lost's Craig Wright wrote the script.
Lee is the latest film director to enter TV. Martin Scorsese (Boardwalk Empire) , Michael Mann (Luck) and Gus Van Sant(Boss) have also directed TV pilots.
Lee won his second Oscar for his work on "Pi" this past February beating out favorites Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook). The director also won an Oscar for 2005's "Brokeback Mountain." He became one of the few directors to win the Best director award twice without winning Best Picture. Lee is also known for his work on "Sense and Sensibility," "Hulk," and "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon." He is rumored to helm upcoming film "Cleopatra" with Angelina Jolie. He is also being courted by Warner Bros to direct "God and Kings." The film was originally supposed to be directed by Spielberg but the helmer dropped out of the project.
Lee will be executive producer for "Tyrant" which is expected to shoot in Morocco in the coming months.