Not only is visionary director Terrence Malick becoming prolific as of late, he’s putting together some extraordinary casts. FilmNation has announced that they will be handling international sales and distribution on two new films from the Tree of Life director. Lawless will star Ryan Gosling as the lead, with Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, and Haley Bennett rounding out the supporting cast. Then we’ve got Knight of Cups, which has Bale assuming the lead role with a supporting cast that includes Blanchett and Isabel Lucas (Immortals). Hit the jump for much more.No plot information is given on either project (as it to be expected with a Malick production), but FilmNation says both films will shoot back-to-back in 2012. This bit is a tad confusing, given that Malick and Bale were both spotted shooting with what appeared to be a pretty hefty film crew at September’s Austin City Limits music festival. Since FilmNation says production doesn’t begin until next year, what was going on there? Well, yesterday The Playlist reported (along with the news that Jerod Tate is scoring Malick's romantic drama) that sources close to the production told them that the shooting at ACL was actually pre-production work and Bale was there “working out and finding his character.” The mysterious Malick has a very peculiar way of filming, and Bale has been known to be a bit, um, intense, when it comes to acting, so the idea that they were doing prep work isn't too far out there.One would assume that footage shot at ACL was for Cups, since Bale was the focus, but we really don’t know for sure if the filming/prep work was for Lawless, Knight of Cups, or another project entirely. Nevertheless, Malick has assembled a dream cast for his two new projects. Gosling is one of the best young actors out there, Blanchett nails pretty much every role she takes on, and Mara is poised to make waves with her high-profile role in David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Bennett had previously been reported as the female lead opposite Bale in a new Malick project, but it looks like she'll take on more of a supporting role in the Lawless ensemble.While Malick is prepping these two new projects, the director still has an entire film in the can that no one has seen yet. The Untitled Terrence Malick Project stars Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem, and Rachel Weisz, and is said to be a romantic drama. Malick shot the film last year in Oklahoma, but a premiere date has yet to be set. The director is known for his very, very long post-production process, but hopefully we’ll get a look at the film next year at Cannes, where he premiered The Tree of Life. After that, we’ve still got at least two Malick films to look forward to, complete with a stacked deck of stellar acting talent.