Terrence Malick's recent burst of creative energy is sort of staggering. After completing just four films in forty-two years, he has dropped two films in two years (2011's "The Tree of Life" and 2012's "To the Wonder"), with "Knight of Cups" wrapping up, "Lawless" about to begin and an ambitious documentary that is still being worked on. Screen Daily talked to Malick's producers, Sarah Green and Nicolas Gonda, about his recent endeavors (including "To the Wonder," which just premiered in Venice – our man on the scene loved it) and what's going on with the movie Malick is currently tinkering with (including when we can expect that documentary).
Green admitted to Screen Daily, "I don’t know whether anyone can fully explain the creative force. But he’s certainly on a roll. He’s very inspired right now. I expect it has something to do with the team that has formed around him, and the connection he has with them. He has developed a system that he knows works for him." In other words: don't question it, just go with it. As usual his projects tend to be shrouded in mystery, but Green offered a bit of detail about the subject matter of at least one of them.
"We recently finished shooting 'Knight of Cups,' which is about the LA movie business. Our untitled film, the one set against the music scene in Texas, will begin shooting in a few weeks. It was called 'Lawless' but we agreed to give that name to John Hillcoat." She then noted that, "Both films star Christian Bale and are set in the contemporary world. We’ll edit them simultaneously and FilmNation is on board both. We consider FilmNation partners on all of Terry’s films going forward."
Green then cleared up where in the process is "Voyage of Time," the documentary feature that spun off from the beginnings-of-the-universe stuff from 'Tree of Life' (last we heard Brad Pitt and Emma Thompson were on board to narrate). Well, that is a little further away. "There are large parts shot already but it’s a multi-year project so there’s a way to go yet," Green said. "Terry has been envisioning it for several decades."
But that's not all for Malick. Gonda added, "I’m also producing 'Green Blade Rising' with Terry. The film is about the difficult youth of Abraham Lincoln. A.J. Edwards is directing and Diane Kruger will play Lincoln’s mother. We’re due to start production in a couple of weeks."
In other words: the unstoppable Malick train will keep on chugging! As for "To the Wonder," it heads into TIFF with no U.S. distribution deal in place, but we figure an announcement isn't far off now.