On-Set Spies Reveal Terrence Malick’s New Film Will Feature Ben Affleck, Hysterectomies

Tim Grierson
·Editor

%photo13% Big-budget projects like "The Dark Knight Rises" have to be incredibly secretive to avoid online spoilers, which of course makes people all the more hungry for insider information on these films. To a lesser degree, this goes on in the indie world as well, especially when it's someone as tight-lipped and media shy as Terrence Malick, the director of "The Thin Red Line" and the forthcoming "The Tree of Life." He's just finished shooting his follow-up to "Tree of Life," tentatively titled "The Burial," and someone involved with the production decided to leak information about it to The Wrap -- a lot of odd, random information.

(Just so we're clear, the rest of this post should be considered a Major Spoiler Alert.)

The Wrap acquired the film's "call sheets," which is the daily schedule for what scenes will be shot and what actors need to be on set. Generally, they don't provide specific dialogue but can give a general sense of what a scene could be. So, The Wrap is really just speculating with what it thinks "The Burial" is about. But here are some of the more noteworthy finds:

*** The film stars Ben Affleck and "Quantum of Solace" love interest Olga Kurylenko as an unhappy married couple with a daughter (unknown actress Tatiana Chilin). Both partners are drawn to extramarital affairs: In Affleck's case, it's with Rachel McAdams.

*** Javier Bardem plays a local priest who's overwhelmed by his congregation's problems.

*** Rachel Weisz plays Affleck's friend. Oh, and according to The Wrap, she "demanded $100 protein bars that craft services provided exclusively to the Oscar-winning actress during her four days on set." Yes, she sounds like an absolute tyrant whom we should all heap with scorn and then shun for all eternity.

*** If you had been waiting for Kurylenko to getting around to doing a "nude scene from the waist down" as well as "a steamy sex scene in a motel," then "The Burial" is the film for you.

That takes care of the most concrete spoilers -- most of the rest involves descriptions of supporting characters and educated stabs at the content of certain scenes that may or may not be accurate. For example, it's hard to know what to make of the revelation that the Kurylenko character "learns she might need a hysterectomy." What we can generally surmise from this on-set leak is that "The Burial" seems to be more plot-driven and small-scale than the sweeping, mood-heavy films Malick is known for. But, again, that's just a guess based on a guess. We know a lot more about "The Burial" today than we did yesterday, but, really, we still don't know all that much.

Exclusive: Details from the Set of Terrence Malick's New Drama [The Wrap]