If you saw Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, and left the theater feeling perplexed about just what it all meant, you're not alone. Even Sean Penn is confused about the meaning of Malick's narrative and is unsure of what he brought to the film. He recently admitted to French newspaper Le Figarro, "I’m still trying to figure out what I’m doing there and what I was supposed to add in that context."

But regardless of whether you found Malick's latest project intriguingly complex or just a cinematic hot mess (albeit, an artistic one), here's something we can all agree on: Terrence Malick and Christian Bale are together again, and it's a glorious thing. Malick and Bale, whose first memorable collaboration was on 2005's The New World, have plans to reunite for an untitled project due to begin production this Spring. The movie will have Bale as the male lead and rumor has it, newcomer Rooney Mara is one of the actresses in consideration for the leading lady.

Need something to hold you over until then? Malick's next film, tentatively titled The Burial, starring Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams, should see a release in early 2012, and will be followed up by The Tree of Life counterpart, The Voyage of Time.

[via NY Mag and Twitch]