Critically-acclaimed director Terrence Malick has yet to unveil his new film Tree of Life, but The Playlist is reporting that Malick is already into deep production on his next feature. The not-yet-titled feature, which stars Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Rachel Wiesz, and Olga Kurylenko has just brought on actor Barry Pepper, of Saving Private Ryan and The Green Mile fame, who will reportedly play a priest along with Bardem. A local newspaper caught the cast and crew filming in Pawhuska, Oklahoma this week, though no interviews or details about the production were given.

Malick, who directed 1998’s Best Picture nominee The Thin Red Line and 2005’s The New World, has already completed production on Tree of Life, though no word on an official release date beyond 2011 has appeared online. Tree of Life stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and is said to follow a family through multiple generations, time and space. Recent news suggests the film has been granted a PG-13 rating.  More after the jump.

I liked The Thin Red Line (well bits and pieces anyway) even if it did drift off into something akin to a metaphorical Discovery Channel episode, what with all of the beautifully shot locations and animals that more or less felt oddly out of place in a war film. Still, that film boasted an incredible Hans Zimmer score and a terrific performance from the always reliable Sean Penn.

The New World, however, was mediocre at best, but, nevertheless, I’m intrigued by the ideas behind Tree of Life, which I hear may sport dinosaurs like we’ve never seen them before.