Last night, Ang Lee's marvellous Life Of Pi transformed that bit of Leicester Square between the burger place and the chocolate megastore into a mystique-filled corner of the Occident, a fittingly evocative backdrop for the filmmaker and his cast to talk lifeboats, moviemaking and tigers with assembled fans and reporters.
A perfect spot for a tiger, a zebra, a hyena and an orang-utan to spend the evening, no? Alas not, but Lee, Rafe Spall and the star of the show, 19 year-old newcomer Suraj Sharma, castaway Pi in the movie, put on a show for the crowds. Click below for the highlights.
For those who haven't encountered Yann Martel's novel, Life Of Pi follows Pi (Sharma) through a ferocious shipwreck that drowns his family, leaving him drifting for weeks in a lifeboat with the dubious company of a vicious tiger as both fight for survival.
Even in a year in which a suspicious number of 'unfilmable' novels have been filmed, Lee's take on Martel books has earned its London bow the hard way - as the Taiwanese director explained inside the auditorium. "I didn't think we could make the book into a movie," he grinned. "A boy and a tiger adrift in the Pacific... and without Tom Hanks."
See for yourself when** Life Of Pi** washes up on December 20.