After 30 Plus Years In Production, Terrence Malick’s ‘Voyage Of Time’ Coming To IMAX

Thirty years after Terrence Malick began developing a project for Paramount titled Q – which explored the origins of life on earth – the film, now titled Voyage of Time, has finally received a release date — at least in IMAX form. The documentary is slated to drop on October 7, and The Film Stage notes that a fall release points to a likely premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival or Venice Film Festival.

The ambitious doc has been described as “a celebration of the earth,” and Indie Wire reports that Voyage of Time will be scored by Ennio Morricone, marking the Italian composer’s first collaboration with Malick since Days of Heaven.

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.”

Paramount reportedly financed the film in the 70s to the tune of $1 million, and elements of the work-in-progress made their way into the film Tree of Life.

Voyage of Time will reportedly be released in two forms. First, as a 40-minute IMAX movie narrated by Brad Pitt and then as a standard feature-length film narrated by Cate Blanchett.

And Terrence Malick’s VOYAGE OF TIME will probably land in #Cannes2016 as well, says @le_Parisien https://t.co/6iPiF2Hb8g #Cannesleaks

— David González (@dgonzalezmtez) March 18, 2016

Malick, whose career spans four decades, has directed eight feature films, with an additional film currently in post-production. He made his directorial debut with the 1973 drama Badlands, which was loosely based on the real-life murder spree of Charles Starkweather. His second film, Days of Heaven (1978), won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Best Director at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. After the film’s release, Malick took a long hiatus from filmmaking and didn’t return until 1998 with his critically acclaimed war epic, The Thin Red Line. The film received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, and won the Golden Bear at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival. His follow-up was The New World (2005), which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography.

2011’s The Tree of Life was named one of the year’s best films and won the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. His latest film, Knight of Cups, is an experimental drama starring Christian Bale that garnered mixed reviews.

Malick’s process is said to be even stranger than his eccentric movies. Actor Thomas Lennon, who has a brief cameo in Knight of Cups, told Business Insider that he was “unbelievably distressed” during the first few hours of working with the acclaimed director.

“We were basically yelling at each other,” Lennon said about a phone conversation he had with his wife while on the set. “And at that point Malick himself came up to me with a camera with a stubby lens and got, I’m not kidding, eight inches away from my face, filming me having this totally real fight with my wife. At first I felt it was kind of an invasion of privacy and then I was like, ‘F— it, this is the realest thing that has happened all day.”

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Lennon said that once he got comfortable with the shoot, it turned out to be, “The single most fun day I’ve ever had on a movie set ever.”

“What I realized was, Malick loves to be on his feet and just making movies,” Lennon added. “I don’t mean the editing, just the location, shooting a scene, and letting things happen. I mean, it was honestly an absolutely bats— crazy day. But I would have instantly come back and done it another day if the opportunity came up.”

Weightless is Malick’s upcoming drama starring an ensemble cast including Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Val Kilmer, Clifton Collins Jr., Benicio del Toro, and Michael Fassbender. “The film centers on two intersecting love triangles. Obsession and betrayal set against the music scene in Austin, Texas,” per IMDB. The film is slated to hit theaters in November.

Meanwhile, images from Voyage of Time hit the Internet back in February but were swiftly removed by the request of Broad Green Pictures. There’s no word yet on when the feature version will be released.

[Image via Shutterstock]