The New World (2005 film)
The New World is a 2005 historical romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, depicting the founding of the Jamestown, Virginia, settlement and inspired by the historical figures Captain John Smith, Pocahontas of the Powhatan tribe, and Englishman John Rolfe. It is the fourth feature film written and directed by Malick.
The New World
Terrence Malick
- Richard Chew
- Hank Corwin
- Saar Klein
- Mark Yoshikawa
- First Foot Films
- Sarah Green Film
- Sunflower Productions
New Line Cinema (United States)
Entertainment Film Distributors (United Kingdom)[1]
- December 25, 2005 (United States)
- January 27, 2006 (United Kingdom)
- United Kingdom
- United States
- English
- Algonquian
$30 million[1]
$49.3 million[1]
The cast includes Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale, August Schellenberg, Wes Studi, David Thewlis, Yorick van Wageningen and John Savage. The production team includes director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki, producer Sarah Green, production designer Jack Fisk, costume designer Jacqueline West, composer James Horner and film editors Richard Chew, Hank Corwin, Saar Klein and Mark Yoshikawa.
The New World was a box-office failure even though it received many award nominations for Lubezki's cinematography, Kilcher's acting and Horner's score. The film was initially met with an only mildly positive critical response, although several critics later ranked it as one of the best films of the decade.
The New World
January 24, 2006
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Terrence Malick began work on the script for The New World in the late 1970s.[4] After The Thin Red Line, Malick worked on a film about Che Guevara and his failed revolution in Bolivia. When financing had yet to come through, Malick was offered the chance to direct The New World and left the Guevara project in March 2004.[5] Production on The New World was underway by July of that year.[6]
Filming[edit]
The New World was the first collaboration between Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. The film was notable for its emphasis on authenticity, from location, settings and costumes to the casting of Native American actors and extras who were trained by Blair Rudes, professor of linguistics at UNC-Charlotte, to speak a form of the extinct Powhatan language (a type of Virginian Algonquian) reconstructed for the film by Rudes.[7] Some footage was also filmed at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, England.[8] Principal photography wrapped after three and a half months in November 2004.[6]
Post-production[edit]
The film was originally set to be released in November 2005, but release had to be postponed. Malick was still editing the footage he had shot. He is well known for editing his films up until the last minute,[9] often trimming his films and leaving entire characters out of the final print, as is the case with The Thin Red Line. In early December, a 150-minute version was shown to critics for awards season consideration. It was released for a week from Christmas to New Year's Day in two theaters each in Los Angeles and New York to qualify for the Academy Awards.
For the film's wide release, which began on January 20, 2006, Malick re-edited the film, cutting it to 135 minutes, but also adding footage not seen in the first release. He altered some of the film's extensive voiceovers to clarify the plot. Substantial changes were made to the first half-hour of the picture, seemingly to speed the plot along.[10]
Home media[edit]
A third, 172-minute version, dubbed "The Extended Cut", was issued by New Line on DVD in October 2008.[25] It contains new scenes and expansions to other scenes. The 135-minute and 172-minute cuts are widely available on DVD worldwide, with the 172-minute cut also released on Blu-ray. The 150-minute version was released commercially only twice—as a Digital Download briefly available to buyers of the US "Extended Cut" DVD in 2008, and on DVD in Italy as part of Italian distributor Eagle Pictures's 2-disc set, containing both the 150-minute and 135-minute versions of the film.
On July 26, 2016, all three cuts were released on Blu-ray and DVD in the United States by The Criterion Collection with the 172-minute extended cut from a new 4K digital restoration supervised by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and director Terrence Malick.[26]