Matthias Schoenaerts Records Voice-Over for Terrence Malick’s ‘The Way of the Wind,’ Now in Its Sixth Year of Editing

Despite six years of editing, Terrence Malick’s “The Way of the Wind” does exist. Last we heard, the film had taken shape in the form of multiple cuts. It’s come to the point where, according to The Film Stage, Malick started dishing out editing duties to his cast

The latest update is coming in from L.A. —I was recently told that Matthias Schoenaerts, who plays Jesus, is currently recording the film's voice-over. No word yet on whether the film will even use Schoenaerts’ voice work, but at least there’s movement on this thing.

Remember when it took Stanley Kubrick more than two years to edit “Eyes Wide Shut”? At the time, that felt monumental, but compared to Malick’s process, it’s a sprint. Malick spent three years editing “The Tree of Life” and “A Hidden Life,” but even his most devoted followers couldn’t have predicted he’d pour six obsessive years into shaping a single film.

Last year, there were hopeful reports that The Way of the Wind was nearing completion and entering the sound-mixing stage. Even the film’s lead actor, Géza Röhrig — who plays Jesus in Malick’s biblical epic — mentioned that the film was expected to premiere at Cannes 2025. That clearly didn’t happen.

“The Way of the Wind” marks the longest editing period of any Malick film — and it’s not even close. It’s reached the point where, according to The Film Stage, Malick has reportedly started delegating editing duties to members of his own cast.

The Way of the Wind depicts episodes “in the life of Christ” through representations of evangelical parables. One such story — Jesus Christ’s descent into the world of the dead, also known as his “Descent into Hades” — is rumored to be among the parables included in the film. The cast features Matthias Schoenaerts (as Saint Peter), Röhrig (as Jesus), Ben Kingsley, Joseph Fiennes, and Mark Rylance (as Satan).

And so, Malick continues on. It’s been six years since the editing phase began on The Way of the Wind, and there’s still no clear sense of when he’ll finish it. According to actor Mathieu Kassovitz, Malick supposedly shot close to 3,000 hours of footage for The Way of the Wind — and maybe that’s what has the filmmaker so overwhelmed as he strives to nail the final cut.