While Terrence Malick was filming The Tree of Life he was also working on The Voyage of Time, which has been described Tree editor Billy Weber as a film that involves “the first signs of life, bacteria, cellular pioneers, first love, consciousness, the ascent of humanity, life and death and the end of the universe.” The film features narration by Brad Pitt and Emma Thompson.
It’s always a matter of speculation as to when a Malick film will actually see the light of day and now Variety reports Voyage will be delivered in 2016 in a feature-length version and a 40-minute large-format version.
It would make sense if the large-format version played in IMAX theaters such as the one here in Seattle at the Pacific Science Center while the feature-length version would receive a standard theatrical release, but that is merely speculation based on this report.
Production companies Wild Bunch and Sophisticated Films are taking Voyage to Cannes to show off the first images from the film. Sophisticated Films exec Sophokles Tasioulis told Variety, “This story deals with the biggest questions in life, which touch all of us in an emotional, beautiful and awe-inspiring way.”
And a joint statement from the two companies says the film used IMAX cameras to capture “the planet in an unprecedented way” and “examines all that went to prepare the miracle that stands before us now. After the nebulae and supernovae, after the lands of lava and smoke, after the elaboration of the first cells, first fish, first amphibians and reptiles, this great wonder!”
The statement continues, “Using words and music, we are encouraged to view the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet with gratitude and awe, in Malick’s most ambitious film to date.”
Obviously this all sounds like a companion to the creation sequence in Tree of Life (see below) and definitely sounds like something to look forward to, but will it make that 2016 release? Will it actually see two versions released or is that just wishful thinking? We may sooner than later.
