If I'm remembering correctly, this was something he shot at the same time as The Tree Of Life - it's the more nature/documentary style footage contained within that movie broken out into a documentary short of its own.
Thanks for posting that, Reggie. The audience was too low, but the content was interesting. The title of the video makes it sound like Plummer would refuse to work with Malick again, when the interview makes it pretty clear that, as a result of Plummer's criticism, Malick would refuse to work with Plummer again.
There's precedence for this. James Cameron's IMAX undersea movies had shorter cuts for large format venues, and longer cuts for conventional theaters and home video.
Yeah, I don't think this is about Malick being a difficult artist or whatever the article was alleging. The 45 minute version will play indefinitely in museum settings, rotating between other 45 minute IMAX documentaries. Most museums that have IMAX installations show a few different titles each day, and they stay in rotation for years (even decades in some cases).
The longer version will be released in more conventional theaters, probably art houses that typically show documentaries. This will likely be a more traditional release window, where it only plays for several weeks or so.
The home video release will likely include both versions.
This has to be the odds on favorite to win the Documentary Oscar, no? I can't see the Academy passing up a chance to finally get Malick a golden statue.