Two actors Heath Ledger and Sean Penn, who have links to The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (Ledger was cast, Penn was rumored to be Nolan’s first choice) are in talks to star together for the first time in Terrence Malick’s long gestured Indie drama Tree of Life says The Hollywood Reporter.

The project is being setup at River Road Entertainment and if all goes well it will see Ledger take the lead role opposite an uncast actress, with Sean Penn in a supporting role with principal photography set to begin in March.

The project is said to be a ‘complex drama’ but exact details have never come out on the movie, despite it being a film Malick has been trying to get going on for years. During the filming of his last movie The New World in 2005, Malick had talked to Colin Farrell about starring in the lead role, but when the project stalled… so did Farrell.
For Penn, it will be the first time he has starred under Malick since the late 90’s classic The Thin Red Line…

Malick’s films only ever exist at one pace, slow.

Though it works beautifully when you have characters and the subject matter as interesting as the one in The Thin Red Line but with The New World, I honestly struggled to get through it all. Let’s be thankful he hasn’t gone with Colin Farrell and has instead gone with an actor who has many roles on the horizon I’m looking forward too.

And of course Penn… one of the best around.