Ang Lee working on FX pilot

A few weeks after winning an Academy Award for his film "Life of Pi" (speaking of which, Happy Pi Day TV Rage readers!), director Ang Lee has landed a new deal that will bring him to the small screen.

Lee will be directing the pilot for a new FX series, Tyrant. The series will revolve around an American family that is unknowingly dragged into the inner workings of a Middle Eastern country that is going through some turbulence. The pilot is being created by Homeland's Howard Gordon and Gideon Raff, as well as Lost's Craig Wright. 

Lee was offered the pilot before the Academy Awards but did not accept until after the show (obviously). It certainly cannot hurt the pilot's chances by having that kind of pedigree behind it.

Lee has never worked on series television before this. Increasingly big name Hollywood directors are turning to the small screen, including Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann and Gus Van Sant.

If Tyrant is ordered to series, Lee will remain attached as an executive producer.

"Ang Lee has demonstrated time and again an ability to present characters with such depth and specificity that they reveal the universal human condition," said FX Networks president John Landgraf. "No one could be a more perfect filmmaker to bring Howard Gordon, Gideon Raff and Craig Wright's Tyrant to indelible life."