Director Terrence Malick makes very unique films that are more like tone poems than narratives. Recently, the Tree of Life director has been busy working on Voyage of Time, a documentary that has been described as “a celebration of the earth, displaying the whole of time, from the birth of the universe to its final collapse.” What sounds like a visually majestic moviegoing experience – and given Malick’s filmography, that is no surprise – will likely be coming to theatres in 2016. It will arrive in a feature-length cut for regular cinemas, as well as a 40-minute large format version that should receive an IMAX release.
Wild Bunch and Berlin distributor Sophisticated Films will show off the first images from Voyage of Time at Cannes this week. The location seems right, too, as Malick walked off with the Palme D’Or three years ago. The sales material for the film promises that it will examine “all that went to prepare the miracle that stands before us now. After the nebulae and supernovae, after the lands of lava and smoke, after the elaboration of the first cells, first fish, first amphibians and reptiles, this great wonder!” Looks like we’re in for some pretty weight stuff with this one.
The promotional material is advertising this film as the director’s most ambitious work, which seems just as amazing as it is threatening. (Could it just be an extended version of that prolonged creation sequence from The Tree of Life?) Still, Voyage of Life is being made with IMAXTM cameras, which promises rich, spectacular visuals that should be well worth the price of an IMAX ticket.
Although Malick is notorious for perfectionism, making the 2016 forecast not one that we can officially set in stone, it is good to see that the director is at least getting a lot of work done. Besides Voyage of Time, he is also working on Knight of Cups, with an ensemble including Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman. That film is set for release later this year. He is also making an untitled Austin-set romance with Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara, alongside Bale and Portman again. Even though the director has been criticized by some of the performers he works with for cutting down their roles significantly (here’s looking at you, Adrien Brody), he still manages to assemble great casts.
With Cannes about to kick off, expect to hear more on Voyage of Time shortly.