While he’s worked with composers in the past like Alexandre Desplat, Hans Zimmer, Ennio Morricone and contentiously, James Horner, it appears he’s taking a different tack this time around. Malick-obsessive blog All Things Shining are reporting that American Indian classical composer Jerod Tate is recording an orchestral soundtrack to the film.
Apparently, in order to make use of a 2% tax rebate in Oklahoma, Malick and his team have been sourcing music from artists throughout the state and Tate was settled on to write the music. Seems a bit odd that Malick—whose had no problem sending camera crews around the world to get the footage he wants—would restrict himself on this element of the production, but considering the budget on this is likely tiny, any savings can help. Of course, whether or not he winds up actually using Tate’s music is another matter altogether—Malick can be selective to put it lightly—so we’ll see how this pans out. Last we heard, Malick himself said he was “rushing” towards a final mix on the film (a word we never thought we’d hear him use) and Optimum in the U.K. had picked up the movie over the summer for a 2012 release, so fingers crossed that sticks.