Report: Terrence Malick’s ‘The Way of the Wind’ May Never Be Released

According to a new Telegraph feature by Alexander Larman titled “The Pot-Smoking Jesus Film We May Never See,” Terrence Malick’s long-gestating biblical epic “The Way of the Wind” remains stuck in post-production — and might never be released.

Malick’s film, first shot in 2019 under the title “The Last Planet,” was meant to be his bold retelling of the life of Jesus Christ. It stars Géza Röhrig as Jesus, Mark Rylance as multiple incarnations of Satan, and Matthias Schoenaerts as Saint Peter — who may, according to some involved, actually be the film’s real protagonist.

The Telegraph piece paints a picture of inner creative chaos. Malick, now 81, has reportedly shot over 3,000 hours of footage, and despite rumors of a Cannes 2025 premiere, he admitted earlier this year that the film is “nowhere near finished.” Producer Alex Boden says the director is “very happy with what he’s working on,” but there are no announcements or release plans in sight.

The report also mentions that “The Way of the Wind” includes some of the filmmaker’s most unorthodox creative choices yet, including scenes of Jesus smoking cannabis and a lengthy (28 minutes!) philosophical monologued from Rylance’s Satan. The article notes that Jesus performs no miracles in the film, and that as I had previously reported, Schoenaerts’ Peter recently recorded voice-over for the film.

Listen, there’s skepticism all around this project; has Malick’s perfectionism finally crossed into self-sabotage? His films have always been subject to lengthy, obsessive editing processes — with actors often discovering their roles drastically reduced or removed entirely. Christopher Plummer, who hated working with Malick on “The New World,” famously criticized that Malick “needs a writer desperately,” as his scripts tend to collapse into “pretentious” abstraction.

Complicating matters for Malick, Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ” — which also tackles Jesus’ descent into Hades — is already in production and slated for a 2027 release.

“The Way of the Wind” is the longest time Malick has taken to editing a film, and it’s not even close. I remember a time when people were astounded by the three years of post-prod on “Tree of Life,” and “A Hidden Life,” but those examples pale in comparison to the gargantuan task of shaping ‘Way of the Wind.’ It’s come to the point where, according to The Film Stage, Malick has started dishing out editing duties to his cast, whom he’s invited to his home ranch to mold the film their own way.

At this point, no one’s really surprised. Could “The Way of the Wind” become Malick’s “unfinished symphony”? The last sign of life came in March, when “Friendship” director Andrew DeYoung mentioned in an interview that he had invited Malick to his SXSW premiere. Malick’s response? A brief message saying he was “too busy” and “editing right now.”