Christian Bale set to star in new Terrence Malick project

Terrence Malick isn't normally a director rush himself, but he seems to be hitting an uncharacteristically busy patch with the news that Christian Bale will star in his next directorial project.

Next, that is, after his untitled Ben Affleck-starrer, which is currently rumoured to be called The Burial . Rachel McAdams, Rachel Weisz and Javier Bardem are set to appear in that low-key number, which Malick has been shooting on the quiet.

With The Burial in post-production and expected to open in 2012, Malick is already gearing up for his next, according to a report by Twitch (via The Playlist).

The untitled project is thought to be even smaller in scale than The Burial , with Malick currently deliberating over his choice of a leading lady, who'll star opposite Bale in what's essentially a two-hander.

The impressive candidate list includes Rooney Mara, Mia Wasikowska, Clémence Poésy ( Harry Potter 's Fleur and Haley Bennett ( Kaboom ), so it's not surprising that Malick's taking his time to whittle it down.

Bale and Malick previously collaborated on sublime Pocahontas pic The New World , with Bale turning in an atypically reserved performance. Bale almost joined The Burial , in the role later taken by Affleck.

As with all Malick projects, we don't expect to hear any cast-iron details on this project for some time. That's not going to stop us getting ridiculously excited about the prospect of two new Malick movies over the next year or so, though…

Matt Maytum is the former Editor of Total Film magazine. Over the past decade, Matt has worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.