While many hoped/prayed/guessed that Terrence Malick would return to this year’s Cannes Film Festival with “Voyage Of Time,” it wasn’t meant to be. However, the good news is that the long-developing movie is now finished, and has been given a fall release date, though the announcement comes in the most offhand way possible.
Buried in IMAX‘s first quarter financial results report, it’s revealed that “Voyage Of Time” will hit the company’s screens on October 7th. That’s the same weekend as 20th Century Fox‘s thriller “The Girl On The Train,” and Fox Searchlight‘s Sundance hit “The Birth Of A Nation,” but both of those are going wide, while it’s probably safe to say that Malick’s movie will make a limited bow.
In case you forgot, the IMAX cut will run a trim 40 minutes long, and will be narrated by Brad Pitt. Malick is also putting together a 35mm feature-length version narrated by Cate Blanchett, but it’s not clear if it will be released concurrently with the IMAX cut, or later. Here’s the official synopsis:
VOYAGE OF TIME is a celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.
The film is one that Malick has been working on for decades. As diehard fans know, “Voyage Of Time” has its roots in Malick’s “Q” which he started working on in the early ’80s, and never completed. Elements produced for that project eventually found their way into “The Tree Of Life,” and will also feature in “Voyage Of Time” as well.
While some of us have grown wary of Malick’s quasi-philosophical narratives of late, here’s hoping the documentary finds his filmmaking voice more focused and substantive. But even if it isn’t, on a visual level alone, the film should be a knockout.