A quartet of female up and comers – Mia Wasikowska, Clemence Posey, Rooney Mara and Haley Bennet – are all vying for the lead role in acclaimed director Terrence Malick’s next project, also starring Christian Bale, and due to start shooting in early 2012, Twitch are reporting.

Of the four female actresses in contention, Bennet is probably the least well known. Starring in 2008′s Marley and Me, she has since starred in little known films such as Arcadia Lost and Kaboom, and this could be quite the break out for her. Also perhaps, for Poesy, who since starring in the Harry Potter series has spent time acting in TV shows such as Gossip Girl and Richard II, and can next be seen in the adaptation of Sebastian Faulks Birdsong, with Richard Madden (TV’s Game of Thrones)

Wasikowska and Mara are probably the two most well-known names on Malick’s list. Mara, who broke out in 2010′s Oscar winner The Social Network, will next be seen in the small indie film Tanner Hall, before the huge promotional push begins for David Fincher’s adaptation of the worldwide hit book series The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a role for which Mara beat out numerous other up and coming actresses.

For Wasikowska, who broke out in 2010 after starring Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and then the Oscar nominee indie drama The Kids Are All Right, an early 2012 production date may clash with several other upcoming projects she has – including Stoker, A View From A Bridge and an untitled project with director Jim Jarmusch and Jane Eyre co-star Michael Fassbender.

Malick is renouned for spending years shaping his work, and has created only four films between 1973 and 2010. Amazingly, over the next two years, he could well look to double that – following the release of The Tree of Life this past year, Malick has the already-filmed production starring Ben Affleck and Jessica Chastain looking for an early 2012 release, and now this untitled project – which will feature a smaller than usual cast, focusing on one pair of leads only.