Terrence Malick Is ‘Very Happy’ with ‘The Way of the Wind’ Progress — but There’s Still No Release Timeline

Christian Zilko
·2 min read
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After four years of post-production and countless festival premiere rumors that never materialized, any cinephile would be forgiven for thinking Terrence Malick had abandoned “The Way of the Wind.” The biblical epic, which offers a reimagined take on several episodes from the life of Jesus Christ, was filmed in the summer of 2019 with a cast that includes Mark Rylance as Satan and Géza Röhrig as Christ. But Malick has demonstrated his trademark lack of urgency while editing the film, leading many to believe that the project would never be released.

Despite the delays, one of the film’s producers insists that the editing process is still moving along. In a new interview with Variety, producer Alex Boden indicated that Malick continues to labor over the film in post-production. While he offered little in the way of concrete details and said that the release timeline is still open-ended, Boden’s words confirmed that the project is still alive.

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‘It’s very much in the edit room at the moment and the filming is completed,” Boden said. “We have an amazing cast. It’s another Terrence Malick project, which was filmed this time in several different countries. From a production point of view, it’s a pretty fantastic achievement. Terry is very happy with what he is working on so far is the word, but there’s no announcements yet.”

The film’s cast members have praised Malick’s artistry on the film, though they have echoed Boden’s sentiments about the auteur taking his time with the editing process. In a recent interview with Hungarian news outlet RTL (via World of Reel), Rylance explained that Malick works at his own pace.

“I hope that Terry eventually completes the film,” Rylance said. “It’s like a fine wine or whiskey; it only gets better with time. Terrence isn’t rushing anything either. This is a very important story for him.”

Rylance added that his role as Satan provided the kind of unique acting challenge that can only be found on a Terrence Malick set.

“There I stood, as Satan, with 28 pages of monologue running through my mind, while Jesus barely uttered a word,” he said. “Most of the time, I accompanied Jesus as Satan; it’s not the situation for extensive discussions. During filming, there’s no time for rehearsals, so it’s not the moment for lengthy conversations. It’s akin to a boxer focusing solely on stepping into the ring. Discussing Hungarian history doesn’t help in such moments. Especially not in a Terrence Malick film, where everything is at stake.”

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