Notoriously meticulous director Terrence Malick is becoming quite the prolific director as of late. After helming only four films in his 30+ year career, he released The Tree of Life this past May, sparking up considerably passionate chatter over the film’s merits (as expected with a film as ambitious as Tree of Life). He has another untitled project that he’s currently in post-production on starring Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz, and now comes word that Christian Bale is set to star in yet another film that the director’s prepping for an early 2012 shoot. Hit the jump for the details.

We reported back in May that Malick had told his crew to keep this summer and fall open to possibly shoot another film, and now Twitch reports that Christian Bale has been cast in the untitled pic which will shoot early next year. Bale was originally set to star in Malick’s other untitled film that he’s in post-production on, but Affleck eventually took over the role. Bale worked with Malick on the director’s 2005 film The New World, so it’s safe to say that they have a bit of a rapport.

While very few details are known about this project (in true Malick fashion), the report states that it will have a smaller cast than the director’s other untitled film, which boasts an ensemble featuring Affleck, McAdams, Weisz, Javier Bardem, Barry Pepper, and Olga Kurylenko. The new flick has two leads, one male and one female, and Malick is mulling over Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Mia Wasikowska (The Kids are All Right), Haley Bennet (Kaboom), and Clemence Poesy (Fleur Delacour in the Harry Potter films).

Malick is nothing if not ambitious, and he certainly doesn’t make films just for the sake of making them, so it’ll be interesting to see what he’s got up his sleeve this time. With word that he’s prepping yet another film comes the hope that his other untitled flick is close to being completed. If he’s already moved on to another project in his mind, hopefully he’s about finished tinkering with the other flick. This means we could see the untitled drama as early as next year, though Malick isn’t the most predictable of guys, so I’m not holding my breath (but still crossing my fingers).

Nevertheless, it’s exciting to see the guy so passionate about working this late in his career. The more Malick the better, I say. All I ask is that we get some titles, because discerning between two untitled movies that we know nothing about is getting a bit confusing.