New York - Ang Lee's Life of Pi will open the 50th annual New York Film Festival.
The Film Society of Lincoln Centre announced on Monday that Lee's adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Yann Martel will premiere at the festival on 28 September.
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 in the distinction.
The 3D film, a fantasy about a boy marooned on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, is due in cinemas on 21 November.
The New York Film Festival runs from 28 September to 14 October. The Film Society earlier announced that Robert Zemeckis' Flight will close the festival. The full slate will be announced later.
Life of Pi stars Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan and Gérard Depardieu.
Watch the Life of Pi trailer here: