Terrence Malick's Tree of Life gets a release date

It's real. It's happening. Terrence Malick's baby, The Tree of Life , is on its way.

Yup, this is one we definitely didn't see coming. After what feels like decades of delays and distribution issues, Terrence Malick's long-overdue period piece is finally coming to UK cinemas on May 4th.

The story revolves around a young boy - played by Sean Penn in the film's later parts - as he moves through the stages of life to adult disillusionment.

It also stars Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and, erm, dinosaurs. That's got to spell awesome, right?

Most interestingly, this release date precedes the Cannes Film Festival by over a week - where it was initially going to have its grand premiere.

Obviously this means the film won't be running for the coveted Palm D'Or, but as it's not hitting U.S. screens until May 27th, there'll still be plenty of festival-goers queueing up for a first glance.

And it's not like we mind too much. For now, we're just happy that Malick's first movie in six years is finally here.