LONDON – Terrence Malick’s long-awaited feature “The Tree of Life,” starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, has hit a snag in its effort to secure distribution in the UK. Ostensible UK distributor Icon and producers River Road Entertainment are in arbitration just weeks away from the film’s screening at the Festival de Cannes.

Points of contention revolve around release dates and the UK distribution agreement.

Icon had initially scheduled a May 4 debut for the film in the UK but spokespeople said those plans have changed.

According insiders Icon believes its agreement to roll the film out at the beginning of May is voided because of the film’s highly anticipated debut at Cannes later that month.

THR reports that Icon has “no release plans” for the title and directed all enquiries to international sales at Summit.