The Tree of Life will premiere at Cannes!

Variety reports:

A full year after it was initially floated as a hot fest prospect, Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" is set to make its world premiere in May at the Cannes Film Festival.

It's still unclear whether the Fox Searchlight drama starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn will play in or out of competition, a decision that likely will not be made until closer to April 14, when fest topper Thierry Fremaux announces the full official selection lineup. But it's sure to be included in what's shaping up to be a vintage year for Cannes, with new works by Palme winners Gus Van Sant, the Dardenne brothers, Lars von Trier and Nanni Moretti hotly tipped for competition berths, though Fremaux and his selection committee still have many titles to screen before the April deadline.

"Tree of Life" is the rare film to have spent an entire year as a will-it-or-won't-it possibility on the international festival circuit. When it became clear the film wouldn't be ready in time for Cannes last year, many assumed it would be unveiled in the fall at the Venice, Toronto and New York fests. Yet word persisted that the famously fussy Malick still hadn't completed the picture, and the shuttering of original distrib Apparition further complicated the question on when, if ever, "Tree" would see the light of day.

But when Searchlight swooped in to acquire the River Road Entertainment production and slated it for a Memorial Day weekend release (May 27), the stage seemed set for a Cannes 2011 premiere.

"Tree" stands to be one of the hottest tickets in a festival that looks to bounce back from its wanly received 2010 edition. While it's still coming into focus, the lineup should be chock full of top-tier possibilities, including the Van Sant-directed "Restless," starring Mia Wasikowska as a terminally ill teenager. An early clue to the pic's Cannes prospects appeared when Sony yanked it from an original Jan. 28 release, which would have positioned it right after Sundance.