By May 2009 , '' The Tree of Life '' had been sold to a number of international distributors , including Europacorp in France , TriPictures in Spain , and Icon in the UK and Australia , but lacked a US distributor . In August 2009 , it was announced that the film would be released in the US through Apparition , a new distributor founded by River Road Entertainment head Bill Pohlad and former Picturehouse chief Bob Berney . A tentative date of December 25 , 2009 was announced , but the film was not completed in time . Organisers of the Cannes Film Festival made negotiations to secure a premiere at Cannes 2010 , resulting in Malick sending an early version of the film to Thierry Fremaux and the Cannes selection committee . Though Fremaux warmly received the cut and was eager to screen the film at his festival , Malick ultimately told him that he felt the film was not ready . On the eve of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival , Berney suddenly announced his departure from Apparition , leaving the company 's future uncertain . Pohlad decided to keep '' The Tree of Life '' at Apparition , and after significant restructuring , hired Tom Ortenberg to act as a consultant on its release . A tentative plan was made to release it in late 2010 , in time for awards consideration . Ultimately , Pohlad decided to close Apparition and sell rights to the film . Private screenings of the film to interested parties Fox Searchlight Pictures and Sony Pictures Classics took place at the 2010 Telluride Film Festival . On September 9 , Fox Searchlight announced their acquisition of the film from Pohlad 's River Road Entertainment . The film opened in limited release in the United States on May 27 , 2011
2010 Cannes Film Festival
2010 Cannes Film Festival
The Tree of Life (film)