Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” will open the 50th annual New York Film Festival.

    The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced on Monday that Lee’s adaptation of the acclaimed* novel by Yann Martel will premiere at the festival on September 28.

    Lee, whose “The Ice Storm” opened the festival in 1997, is only the fourth filmmaker to twice take the opening night slot. Robert Altman, Pedro Almodovar and Francois Truffaut also share the distinction.

    The 3-D film, a fantasy about a boy marooned* on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, is due in theaters on November 21.

    The New York Film Festival runs September 28 to Octocber 14. The film society earlier announced that Robert Zemeckis’ “Flight” will close the festival. The full slate* will be announced later.(SD-Agencies)