After extensive development, Werner Herzog recently embarked on shooting his first narrative feature in half-a-decade and it looks like we’ll see it sooner than expected. It was part-wishful thinking when we placed it amongst our most-anticipated films of 2014, but the story of legendary cartographer Gertrude Bell may be hitting theaters this year.

Producer Cassian Elwes shared on Twitter that plans are to debut on the fall festival where distributor interest will hopefully spark for a U.S. release by the year’s end. Shortly after, producer Nick Raslan shared an epic first still (seen below) and news that a final cut has been completed. Led by Nicole Kidman, Robert Pattinson, James Franco, and Damian Lewis, the film follows Bell, a diplomatic explorer, who negotiated with Arab nations and helped establish the countries of Iraq and Jordan.

While there’s no word yet which fall festival it may premiere at, we’d imagine Toronto International Film Festival (with perhaps an early Telluride bow) could be in the works. We simply can’t wait to see Herzog, the man that gave us such epics as Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, return with what easily looks to be his most visually ambitious work in some time. With fall line-ups getting announced shortly, check back for updates and in the meantime, click the still below for higher resolution.

Are you looking forward to Queen of the Desert?