A new feature in the British tabloids suggests Terrence Malick’s very long-gestating Biblical epic “The Way of the Wind” may never be released.
The Telegraph (via World of Reel) has done a new feature story titled “The Pot-Smoking Jesus Film We May Never See” about the movie, which was shot back in 2019 under the name “The Last Planet”.
The project was described as a “bold retelling” of the life of Jesus Christ and stars the likes of Géza Röhrig as Jesus, Mark Rylance as Satan, Matthias Schoenaerts as Peter, Leila Hatami as Mary Magdalene, Mathieu Kassovitz as John along with Joseph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley in supporting roles.
The last major update on the film came two years ago from producer Alex Boden confirmed filming had been completed and Malick had been editing the movie since the pandemic kicked off. They added that: “Terry is very happy with what he is working on”.
81-year-old Malick, with his perfectionist tendencies, is known to take a long time to edit his films – but even the three years taken on “Tree of Life” and “A Hidden Life” are nothing compared to the six years so far for “The Way of the Wind”.
Malick is rumoured to have shot over 3,000 hours of footage, and in February this year, he reportedly said the film was “nowhere near finished”. The report adds that the film has Jesus performing no miracles and smoking a lot of weed, while Rylance’s Satan spouts monologues that span up to 28 pages of script.
That said, Schoenaerts reportedly recently recorded a voice-over for the film earlier this month so it’s not entirely stalled. Another issue is competition from Mel Gibson’s two-part “The Resurrection of the Christ” films, with the paper suggesting: “While the films will undeniably have different approaches, if Malick’s picture is delayed indefinitely, there may yet be little point in releasing it at all.”
