Here’s a First Tiny Glimpse at Terrence Malick’s Film About Austin’s Music Scene, Song to Song

It’s no secret Terrence Malick is up to something. The enigmatic director has been working on a musically centered new film, shooting scenes of a variety of artists over the past several years. He shot footage of Annie Clark performing at SXSW in 2012, and has revealed that artists such as Iggy Pop, Arcade Fire, Iron & Wine and Patti Smith will make appearances in the film, as well.

Finally, we have some official information about the mysterious Austin-based film. The film is set to be released Mar. 17, and while early information reported the title to be Weightless, it is now officially Song to Song. The official premise of the star-studded film, first shared by Indiewire, reads:

In this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples—struggling songwriters Faye (Rooney Mara) and BV (Ryan Gosling), and music mogul Cook (Michael Fassbender) and the waitress whom he ensnares (Natalie Portman)—chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.

We don’t yet get a trailer, but we are graced with a single film still, showing Mara, Gosling and Fassbender looking sharp and sexy, staring into the rock ‘n’ roll landscape. The only one missing from the photo is Portman, who we can only assume is off waitressing and hopefully avoiding the snares of “music mogul Cook.”

It seems a fairly basic plot with a stacked cast, but almost certainly Malick and his elusive crew are holding back on dropping the full details. Producer Ken Kao told The Film Stage earlier this year, “I think that our upcoming film is very much ingrained in the zeitgeist. It’s going to be very edgy. [It’s] not a musical, but a film grounded in the Austin music scene.”

It’s hard to imagine an edgy film that is also described as a “modern love story,” but hey, we’ll give it a chance. Anything for you, Terrence.