Deadline is reporting that long, long awaited Tree of Life
has been purchased by Fox Searchlight from Apparition and has set the
film for 2011 (the prestige competition is already too crowded for Fox
this year). The film is a mysterious journey through a man’s life as he
seeks to find his own meaning in the American midwest. A 1950s period
piece starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, with strange, still undefined
cosmic/prehistoric component (for a thematically related, but separate
IMAX release?), nobody quite seems to know what Malick has created here,
but it seems very ambitious.

Ultimately
though, everyone seems to be treating it as a powerful prestige piece,
with potential for awards- hence the move to next year. Problem is, if
the awards talk is legitimate and part of Fox Searchlight’s
considerations, then it may be another long stretch of months before we
can hope to see this film, as dropping it too early in the year doesn’t
really help its chances much come award season. That said, the purchase
and Summit’s enthusiasm for it suggest we’re in for something special,
something worth the wait.

When we hear a date, you’ll hear it too.