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TreeOfLife Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Brad Pitt to Tackle Malick's 'Tree of Life'

Filed under: Drama », Casting », Brad Pitt », Cinematical Indie »

After all the comments in reviews about The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford being Terrence Malick-ish, it appears that Brad Pitt wants the real deal. According to Variety, Pitt is in talks to star alongside Sean Penn in Malick's next film, Tree of Life. Already the film has seen cast replacements; first attached were Mel Gibson and Colin Farrell, then Penn and Heath Ledger. Now it's Ledger who is out (perhaps because Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is expected to go long?) with Pitt set to replace him. As Variety points out, Pitt's consideration of the role is interesting after bailing from State of Play, for which he would have made a whole lot more money. The trade also clears up that Penn's part will be fairly minor in comparison to Pitt's.

As I said in my previous post on the film, the plot of Tree of Life is unknown, but it may have something to do with a Minotaur (like in Gilliam's Time Bandits? no probably not like that). And it may be shot in India. Apparently the film has roots in a project Malick began thirty years ago called Q, which originally focused on World War I and eventually became an eon-spanning story. All that is known is that production begins in the Spring. Maybe, just maybe, it can hold on to this cast until then. These actor swaps are making my head spin. Unfortunately, neither Pitt nor Penn are locked into the film yet, so it's very possible we could see more casting coverage of Tree of Life before the cameras are in place.

Sean Penn and Heath Ledger to Star in Malick's 'Tree of Life'

Filed under: Drama », Independent », Casting », Religious », Cinematical Indie », War »

With a title like Tree of Life, it had sounded like Terrence Malick's next project was to be in line with his last. It even was set to star his lead from The New World, Colin Farrell -- co-starring with Mel Gibson. But Tree of Life doesn't appear to be about Spanish conquistadors and such -- which is good, since The Fountain already covered that territory. Of course, the actual plot of Malick's script is unknown, and despite the fact that it was going to be shot primarily in India two years ago, the same locations might not be used now that the project is up and running once again.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tree of Life could now star Heath Ledger and Sean Penn, who appeared in Malick's The Thin Red Line. The trade states the actors, as well as Malick, are in talks but that shooting is expected to begin in March. River Road Entertainment, which worked with Penn on Into the Wild and with Ledger on Brokeback Mountain is heading the project with the company's founder, William Pohlad, and Sarah Green (The New World) producing.

As I said, little is known about the film. THR mentions the usual "plot is closely guarded" irritant, and to rub in the annoyance tells us an insider could only say that it's a "complex drama." According to a bit of trivia on the IMDb, Tree of Life actually originated in the summer of 1978, when Malick began working on the project, which was then titled Q. Considered his most ambitious project, Q was originally a multi-character story set in the Middle East during World War I, but it also featured a prehistoric prologue with a Minotaur. Then, by the end of the year, the prologue became the whole film. Like The Fountain, it seems like the plot took place over a long, long time. Unfortunately, in 1979 the director and Paramount apparently had a falling out about money; after that Malick disappeared for twenty years.

Anyway, does it really matter what Tree of Life is about? The important thing is that we could get a fifth feature from Malick!
 
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