Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky's mind-bending debut, Pi, will return to theaters for its 25th anniversary on Pi Day - Tuesday, March 14. A24 has remastered the film, which will screen exclusively in IMAX theaters.
With Aronofsky's latest film, The Whale, in contention for this year's Oscars, A24 has acquired the rights to his 1998 feature debut. It will screen in an IMAX one-day only event, at 6:30 PM on March 14; the screening of the restored film will be preceded by a live Q&A from Los Angeles with Aronofsky and a number of cast and crew members from the 1998 film, including cinematographer Matthew Libatique, composer Clint Mansell, star Sean Gullette, and other special guests.
Shot in high-contrast black-and-white on the streets of New York City, Pi was like nothing else in theaters when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998. Made for a paltry budget of less than $150,000, the film stars Gullette (Requiem for a Dream, Rock the Casbah) as obsessive mathematician Max Cohen, whose discovery of a mysterious 216-digit number puts him into conflict with a sinister conspiracy, his own body, and the wrath of God - or, perhaps, only his sanity. Also starring Mark Margolis (Scarface, Breaking Bad), Ben Shenkman (Angels in America, Royal Pains) and Samia Shoaib (The Object of My Affection, The Sixth Sense), the film was a hit with critics, and made back its budget many times over even with a limited theatrical release. It has since gone on to become a cult classic, and launched Aronofsky's successful directing career.
Darren Aronofsky Has Curated an Impressive Career
Aronofsky followed up Pi with the harrowing addiction drama Requiem for a Dream and the fantastical The Fountain before achieving mainstream success with the 2008 Mickey Rourke squared circle drama The Wrestler. His subsequent film, the psychological horror film Black Swan, earned him his first (and to date, only) Best Director Oscar nomination. His next film, the Biblical drama Noah, earned him great success at the box office; but his follow-up, the Jennifer Lawrence-starring allegory mother!, proved polarizing among both critics and audiences.
His latest picture, The Whale, has grossed well at theaters, and star Brendan Fraser is in contention for Best Actor at this year's Academy Awards. Aronofsky's list of unrealized projects is almost as long as his actual filmography; his near misses include a remake of Robocop, an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel Ronin, and Batman: Year One.
Tickets for Pi's Pi Day rerelease are on sale now. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.