Brad Pitt Confirms the Wild Rumors You've Heard About Terrence Malick's Tree of Life

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The official line-up for next month's Cannes Film Festival won't be announced until tomorrow, but already plan on seeing the latest films from Mike Leigh (Another Year), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (the Javier Bardem-led Biutiful) and maybe even Doug Liman (Fair Game, with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts as Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame). And while cineastes and residents of the French Riviera were probably hoping for a peek at Terrence Malick's latest project, Tree of Life, don't hold your breath. It was supposed to premiere at Cannes -- just like it was supposed to premiere last December for an Oscar run -- but it looks like that might be on hold. Too bad, though, especially since star Brad Pitt has confirmed that the new film is as bananas as you would have hoped.

Said the actor to Empire:

"It's this little tiny story of a kid growing up in the 50s with a mother who's grace incarnate and a father who's oppressive in nature. So he is negotiating his way through it, defining who he's gonna be when he grows up. And that is juxtaposed with a little, tiny micro-story of the cosmos, from the beginning of the cosmos to the death of the cosmos. So that's where the sci-fi - or the sci-fact - comes in."

To quote Hurley: Whoa, dude. Considering there have been rumors of dinosaurs and entirely separate movies, this isn't a total surprise, but it's the first legitimate proof that Malick's latest could basically be an amalgam of The Fountain, There Will Be Blood and Avatar. Pitt went on to call the film "a bit ambitious," which seems like a hilarious understatement. There might not be a more ambitious project to come out this year -- if it comes out this year. Seriously: How many pitches start with "growing up in the '50s" and end with "the death of the cosmos?" James Cameron, eat your heart out.

· Brad Pitt Talks 'Tree of Life' [Empire Online via The Playlist]

· Johnny Depp to Light Up Cannes? [People]



Comments

  • OldTowneTavern says:

    Why is this the only picture anyone has of Terence Malick? Does he direct from within the witness protection program?

  • SarahFW says:

    He stipulates in his contracts that no pictures be taken of him, because he is extremely reclusive. Rarely does interviews, as well.