Terrence Malick’s is Still Editing ‘The Way of the Wind,’ Shot in 2019

UPDATED: I’m being told that a 2024 premiere is the goal for Malick’s movie.

EARLIER: It’s time for my mid-year update on Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind.” I’ve been doing these updates for, I don’t know, at least two years now. However, there’s been PROGRESS!

Long story short, two separate sources are telling me that, although Malick is still editing his film, it could very well see the light of day in 2024. Last I heard, they were doing ADR on it, but, supposedly, progress is happening. There is an end in sight.

This aligns well with how Malick usually works, taking his time in the editing room, refining and molding whatever footage he has into a tone poem that satisfies the inner artist in him. That process has been completed. A Cannes 2024 premiere isn’t out of the question, based on what I’ve been told.

Malick’s salad-toss approach to editing is infuriating to some fans, but sometimes it’s definitely worth the wait (“The Tree of Life” “The Thin Red Line”). I truly hope he has something special here.

We’ve all read and heard eccentric Terry stories over the years. A few years ago, composer James Horner explained the fascinating post-production process on “The New World”.

Horner basically implied that Malick butchered his score in the editing room and that the theatrical cut was not what he signed up for. It seems as though Horner didn’t quite grasp who he was working with in this creative endeavour …

There are plenty of stories like these out there. Malick has even edited out numerous movie stars from his films. In “The Thin Red Line” he completely aced already-shot roles by Billy Bob Thornton, Mickey Rourke, Viggo Mortensen and Bill Pullman. Same goes for “To The Wonder” which completely axed Jessica Chastain and Barry Pepper’s characters. Christian Bale got the boot in “Song to Song.”

“The Way of the Wind” started shooting in the summer of 2019. The Cannes premiere will be almost five years since the beginning of production.

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