First official look at Terrence Malick's 'Knight of Cups' with Christian Bale and Natalie Portman

If the response to Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life was mixed, the reviews for his follow-up To the Wonder were absolutely brutal. The chief complaint, and one that I wholeheartedly subscribe to, is that the film felt derivative and indulgent, like a filmmaker going back to an empty creative well. It barely made a blip on the box office radar, and almost certainly won't end up on the Best Picture shortlist next year.

Not that it matters much, as the suddenly-prolific Malick has two films coming up, and the first one we're getting an official look at is Knight of Cups. Set photos have revealed a virtual "who's who" of Hollywood, although with Malick's editing tendencies who knows if any of them will make the final cut. The first image reveals stars Christian Bale and Natalie Portman and....*shocker*...they're prancing along the beach while the waves come in. Based on this photo alone it looks like we're in for more of the same from Malick, but we won't know for sure until debut footage unspools at Cannes. Vaguely described as a story about "temptation, celebrity, and excess", set photos have revealed Cate Blanchett, Isabel Lucas, Antonio Banderas, Wes Bentley, Imogen Poots, Freida Pinto, Teresa Palmer, Ryan O'Neal, Jason Clarke, and Joel Kinnaman at different points, but again, let's wait and see if any of them actually turn up in the finished product.

As for Malick's other untitled film formerly known as Lawless, it's set in the Texas music industry and that's pretty much all we know about it other than the cast. Bale, Blanchett, and Portman will be joined by Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Rooney Mara, Benicio Del Toro, Holly Hunter, Val Kilmer and Berenice Marlohe. [THR]