Seven or eight years ago the late James Horner recalled his frustrating attempts at composing the score for Terrence Malick The New World (’05). Writing the score wasn’t the problem, he said, but Malick’s salad-toss approach to editing. We’ve all read and heard eccentric Terry stories over the years, but if you’re wondering why Malick’s latest, The Way of the Wind, is still being edited two and two-thirds years after completing principal photography, Horner explains it all.

“Way of the Wayward,” posted on 3.30.22: “Almost three years after starting principal photography in June 2019, Terrence Malick‘s The Way of the Wind is still shrouded in secrecy with no whispers, much less expectations, about any festival bookings this year.

“Definitely not Cannes, of course, and with the warm weather fast approaching you’d think the Venice/Telluride crowd would be hearing about possibly getting a peek at Malick’s film down the road. But no — ‘big circle of silence.’

“Malick tends to spend about two years in post-production on his films. Presuming that The Way of the Wind wrapped sometime in the early fall of ’19, the two years of post-production would have been completed last September or October, or five or six months ago.”

“Try It On For Size,” posted on 11.20.20: “In June 2019 Terrence Malick began shooting The Last Planet, which is some kind of Jesus movie. The cast includes Géza Rohrig as Christ, Matthias Schoenaerts as Saint Peter, and Mark Rylance as four versions of Satan. It was announced today that the title has been changed to The Way of the Wind.

“Let me explain something: The Way of the Wind is a nothing title. It’s about as meaningful as Whistle Down The Wind, The Other Side of The Wind, The Wind, Who Has Seen the Wind?, the 1967 Association song “Windy” and Sterling Hayden‘s final line in Bernardo Bertolucci‘s 1900 — ‘I’ve always loved the wind.'”

I then wrote facetiously that “if Malick sticks to his usual post-production timetable, The Way of the Wind should be released by sometime between late ’21 and mid ’22.” I know nothing, but if Malick’s Jesus film doesn’t peek out in the fall it’ll most likely open sometime in ’23.