/ 24 September 2013

Director Terrence Malick responds to claims of misused funds

Director Terrence Malick Responds To Claims Of Misused Funds

To the Wonder director Terrence Malick has hit back at accusations that he misused funds for his long-gestating documentary Voyage of Time, as his lawyers filed a counter-claim in a New York court against his one-time financial backers.

Seven Seas Partnership Limited, a Jersey-based financing outfit founded by Andreas Roald, launched legal action in July this year, alleging that they had paid Malick nearly $6-million towards a feature length film and two 45-minute Imax films, but that nothing had materialised. Furthermore, they alleged that Malick had used the money to fund other films he was working on, including To the Wonder.

Malick's lawyers, however, have been robust in their denial. When Seven Seas first took legal action, Malick's lawyer said "The claims of Seven Seas are without merit. The film was on budget, on schedule, and all funds were used appropriately." They have now followed up with their own filing, which alleges that Seven Seas "concocted the story told in its Complaint" as it "either ran out of, or never had, the funds necessary to meet its financing obligations".

Voyage of Time has been one of the slow-working director's most cherished projects, which he has been working in intermittently since 2008. Apparently conceived as a companion piece to his 2011 feature The Tree of Life and described as a study of "the whole of time, from the birth of the universe to its final collapse", the $12-million budget Voyage of Time is due to have narration by Brad Pitt and incorporate unused footage from The Tree of Life's celebrated "cosmic" sequence as well as extensive new material shot by Malick. – © Guardian News and Media 2013