That’s what Todd McCarthy seems to think. Please keep in mind it’s nothing beyond speculation on his part. But it’s worth pointing to the graph in question:
All through our recent two weeks in the dark, we received periodic updates and tentative promises about the imminent arrival of the film for us to view; even well into the second week we were still being thus tantalized. Finally, of course, came word that Malick was still not done and it now seems clear the picture will not be opening this year. I can’t prove it, of course, and he’s supposedly set to start shooting a new film in Oklahoma in October, but I’m convinced we won’t be seeing “The Tree of Life” until, at the earliest, the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Or perhaps it could turn up at the New York Film Festival a year from now.
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Comments
30 responses to “No ‘Tree of Life’ until 2011?”
Please no! I’m so anxious.
It will not be a surprise to me if this happens.
What is this guy doing. Is he personally developing each print after he is done personally cutting and pasting each frame of film?
I waste enough time being dicked around by Favre, so I’ll just assume this won’t be seen til ’11.
This kinda process never ends well for a film, if you ask me… “Better is the enemy of good,” they say.
I’m up for Malick double-feature next year. He has that romantic drama with Bardem, Kurylenko, Affleck, Weisz, and McAdams next year.
Not surprised at all. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see this before 2012.
This is what’s going to happen. No trailer. No Poster. No notable buzz going for it. No release date. I’d not be surprised in “The Way Back” goes the same way.
Ali E. i totally agree with you.
besides, personally, this is killing my anticipation for the film.
it’s just been dragging for too long.
Yeah, geez, by now last year, we’d at least already gotten a good sampling of the biggest enigmatic question mark of year’s end (Avatar).
As much as I think people should work hard to create a good product, there comes a point in the creative process where it’s okay to say “fuck it, it’s good enough.” I would like it if Malick did that.
A terrible film year like this needs Malick to save it. I really would not know what to do otherwise.
Guys, the film is probably finished (it already has an MPAA rating, don’t forget). This delay, if true, is not necessarily because Malick is trying to perfect it (he probably already has), it’s just troubles with distribution and marketing. I really really hope we see this released this year. I’ve been waiting since 2006. But if we must wait longer, we’ll wait longer.
13-Didn’t Apparition take it? Oh wait, they have FINANCIAL PROBLEMS which could have been avoided with actual MARKETING. Same goes for “I Love You, Phillip Morris”. Oops.
I’m going to plan on this coming out in 2012. If it comes out before then I will be pleasantly surprised.
sigh, should have seen this one coming.
@m1: Hahaha, Malick double feature. You actually expect to see the Weisz/Affleck flick before 2016?!
To be fair to Malick, it must be tricky editing a movie whose screenplay was being made up as he went along.
At least we have The Criterion Collection releasing The Thin Red Line next month!
Sometimes I wonder if this movie really exists.
I kind of agree with Chris138 here. I can just imagine Malick leaning back on a large chair, smoking a pipe, chuckling to himself, thinking “Oh wow, these guys thought I was making a film? I was just hanging out with Sean Penn and Brad Pitt in Texas for a couple of months because they’re awesome. Hell, I’ll just roll with it.”
It does make me wonder what else will be considered in the awards race this year. Perhaps Black Swan could creep up as a major contender. How awesome would it be to have Aronofsky, O.Russel, Fincher, and possibly Nolan all competing for best director while there films for best picture in the same races? That would be a fanboy’s wet dream.
Oh my, Drew, talk about the Overdue Directors’ Hall of Fame. A 5-way race between The Fighter, Black Swan, The Social Network, Inception, and….hell, I’ll throw in Toy Story 3 (Pixar’s got fanboys, too), would be terribly, terribly exciting.
We can dream :)
There were also rumours that “The Tree of Life” had dinosaurs in it. Gawd, I just want the movie! I don’t want it to have to premiere at a film festival (have Malick’s films ever done that? His last two haven’t, right?) and the people at the film’s local (Australia) distributor still seem to have it locked down for a Boxing Day release. We’ll see. Hardly surprising, but who knows…
There was also a rumour it was to be in IMAX and split in two halves!
I must echo The Other James D’s mirth. That anyone could think Malick will have two films ready in 2011 is precious.
Okay, so maybe his other film will have to wait. But The Tree of Life quickly needs to find distribution so we can watch it.
This is the trouble when you have a uniquely Hollywood/Arthouse hybrid director like Malick. A whole bunch of people get excited and then don’t know how to react when they realize theyre dealing with a director who doesn’t play by anyone’s rules, not even his own.
As was pointed out above, the movie has received an MPAA rating already. Whatever changes Malick is making are in addiotion to what was, at a time, considered a finished film.