It’s a great time to be a Terrence Malick fan. After an era of his career where people started to debate the quality of his recent works, it would appear, thanks to the rapturous reception of “A Hidden Life” from this year’s Cannes, that the filmmaker is firing on all cylinders once again. And he’s not slowing down anytime soon, as he’s already beginning work on what is reportedly his next feature, “The Last Planet.”
And thanks to a couple of new reports, Malick is deep into production on the film, with cast members being announced. As you might expect, the people that the director has brought on to his latest project are equally interesting, with some incredible talents ensuring that “The Last Planet” is already one of our most anticipated films of the next year (or if “A Hidden Life” is any indication, maybe the next few years…).
Speaking at this year’s Deauville American Film Festival, Oscar-winning actor Mark Rylance revealed that he’s definitely on board the next film, and he goes so far as to help explain just how strange “The Last Planet,” which is said to be a biblical story about the life of Jesus Christ, might be.
“Terry wrote four versions of the character of Satan, and I thought I would play only one,” said Rylance (via AlloCine & TheFilmStage). “But I heard I was going to play all four. One of them must have been a woman at some point, but it was when he asked me to grow a beard that I realized I wasn’t going to do it that way. I’m very happy to act for Terrence Malick, but I’m intrigued because I hear he talks to you all the time. And coming from the theater, I’m not used to the director yelling at me while I act or tell me what to do. But his films always intrigued me.”
But Rylance isn’t the only name that has been mentioned as part of the cast of the film. It’s being reported that “A Hidden Life” actor Matthias Schoenaerts also has a role in the new project, as well as “Son of Saul” star Géza Röhrig.
Making matters even better is the fact that Italian actor Alfonso Postiglione decided to drop some news about “The Last Planet” on his Instagram, revealing that he’ll be part of the cast alongside Joseph Fiennes, Douglas Booth, and Lorenzo Gioielli. However, if you actually read the post by Postiglione, he hints that the characters he revealed are actually playing “the writer,” “the director,” and two “producers,” with Malick being listed as “the magister.”
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Now, we’re basing this on a caption to a social media post, so take it with a grain of salt, but if these descriptions are accurate, does that mean that Malick is planning on a meta “film inside a film” narrative for “The Last Planet?” Hopefully, we’ll find out more about the film soon.
At this point, however, with this cast, it’s hard not to get excited for the upcoming project, whatever form it takes.
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