Well, this is curious. Last month, we reported that Christian Bale had been set as the lead in Terrence Malick’s next film. After releasing The Tree of Life this year, the newly prolific director was looking to film yet another project (he has another untitled film starring Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams in the can, which may or may not still be in post-production) sometime early next year. It made sense that filming wouldn’t get underway until 2012, because Bale is busy shooting The Dark Knight Rises and Malick still has another film to finish.

However, this past weekend at the Austin City Limits Music Festival the reclusive director and Bale were present alongside a full camera crew. Word of the sighting quickly spread, leading to a high-quality snapshot of the two on stage during a Bright Eyes performance (I wonder which one’s the Conor Oberst fan?). This is a fairly big deal, as a proper photo of Malick hasn’t been taken in a very long time. Hit the jump for more.

UPDATED with a new image and video of Bale and Malick on set.

The impromptu (or not) shooting session makes sense, as Malick lives in Austin and is known to be highly secretive. The only thing we know for sure about the duo’s collaboration is that Bale is the star, and he’ll be joined by newcomer Haley Bennett. The Playlist is quick to point out that Malick had previously been working on a Jerry Lee Lewis-related project, so this film could be a new iteration of that. From the looks of things, it appears that Untitled Terrence Malick Project #2 may turn out to be a music-centric pic, though what the finished product will look like is anyone’s guess.

Side note: to satisfy your curiosity, Malick and Bale were backstage filming during the sets of Bright Eyes, Pretty Lights, and Coldplay. Make of that what you will.

Here are some snapshots (via The Film Stage):

UPDATE 1: Steve here. @JeremyLBowers sent me a great image of Malick behind the camera. This is my favorite photo so far.

Update 2: Here’s some video of Bale and Malick on set. I think this is the first time I’ve seen video of Malick on set. Thanks to Jayne in our comment section.