What’s the Status of Terrence Malick’s ‘The Way of the Wind’?

UPDATE: A “Way of the Wind” producer has reached out to me. He says the film will be ready when It’s ready.

A few months ago I wrote, “I’m just going to act as though Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind” will never be released”.

Know what? I might not have been too far off from the truth. It’s been more three years since production wrapped and the “will he or won’t he” debate has been getting ridiculous. I’m hearing murmurs that the film might never see the light of day.

It’s no secret that the lustre behind the legendary Malick has dwindled a bit the last decade or so, with critics becoming a little less patient with his style and films. If you want timeline of all the intel I had gotten these last few months concerning Malick’s still-unreleased opus:

On 12.13.21 I reported that Malick and Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux were engaged in discussions to finally have the film premiere on the Croisette in May.

Then I was told on 02.04.22 that there were no more discussions between Malick and Cannes about the possibility of a premiere.

On 04.04.22, a Telluride programmer had mentioned that there was “a big circle of silence going on with the film.”

On 04.05.22 a filmmaker friend wrote a reply, telling me: “I can report that Mr. Malick is deep in editing of that film — which probably will have another, as-yet-unreported title — and there is no end in sight. To the point that some around him feel it may wind up an unfinished symphony. Definitely not Cannes this year, definitely not anywhere this year.”

“The Way of the Wind” is supposed to convey passages “in the life of Christ” through the representation of evangelical parables. Jesus Christ's descent into the world of the dead, also known as his “descent into hades,” is rumored to be one of the parables that will be included in the film.

The cast includes the likes of Matthias Schoenaerts (as Saint Peter), Géza Röhrig (as Jesus), Ben Kingsley, Joseph Fiennes, and Mark Rylance (as Satan).

The film was shot in July of 2019.