House M.D. actor Hugh Laurie, who earlier dropped out of a villainous role in Jose Padilha‘s ROBOCOP remake, is now in negotiations to play the lead villain in director Brad Bird‘s TOMORROWLAND. No details on the role are available, only that he would play the antagonist. Formerly titled 1952, TOMORROWLAND is scripted by Damon Lindelof (Lost, PROMETHEUS) and thus far has cast George Clooney in the lead role (again, not specified as to whom he’d be playing).
Lindelof and Bird have Tweeted pics of a mysterious box (below) that contains a slew of old photographs and memorabilia, which have been analyzed extensively by the Disney fan club D23, who came to the conclusion that TOMORROWLAND “is actually about Walt Disney’s involvement with an Army project to let the world know that UFOs really exist.” The full research and speculative report can be read over at Indiewire, which is pretty compelling, although I’d caution against it if you wish to remain “pure” of spoilers, even if unconfirmed.
Lindelof has stated via Twitter that the film is “NOT about aliens,” which can be read literally. He didn’t say it isn’t about U.F.O.’s. We’ve got a long haul until TOMORROWLAND debuts and I’m sure there will be much more hints and teases leading up to it as pre-production gets underway.
TOMORROWLAND opens on December 19, 2014