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The first official look at Brad Bird’s secretive sci-fi Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney and Under The Dome‘s Britt Robertson, has finally arrived.
Three new pictures for the movie were unveiled by EW (via SlashFilm) who talked to Bird and writer Damon Lindelof about the movie which has been shrouded in secrecy since its announcement.
The official plot for the film is as follows: “Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (George Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as “Tomorrowland.” What they must do there changes the world—and them—forever.”
EW get a bit more detail: “A Florida girl who dreams of the future while watching the launchpads of Cape Canaveral being disassembled goes exploring one day and, after landing in a bit of trouble, finds herself in possession of a mysterious pin. Touching it reveals a vision of a place that may not be a different world but simply a better one. (You can see the concept art above.) Then it’s gone—out, out, brief candle!—and the quest to discover the real Tomorrowland begins.”
The article notes that the title is cribbed from the Disneyland attraction, and that the film suggests that Walt Disney may have had a similar vision of the future to Casey.
Some of the juiciest bits of information from the piece include an intriguing JK Rowling comparison: “What Hogwarts is to magic, Tomorrowland is to science: They are both easy to find if you are a wizard and very difficult to find if you’re a Muggle,” says Lindelof. “Walt Disney is not a character in our movie, but he is referenced as having some involvement in this mysterious place called Tomorrowland, as a huge futurist and aficionado of space travel, rocketry, cities of the future, and space travel.”
Clooney’s character is referred to as “a hermit and failed inventor” who is confronted with the spark and optimism of Robertson’s Casey. Bird and Lindelof both speak about her optimism in the face of a NASA that is no longer launching rockets into space, and that the film speaks to a classic era of science fiction, from Heinlein, Bradbury and Sagan to Close Encounters.
The film has a great cast: Judy Greer, Hugh Laurie, Kathryn Hahn, Keegan Michael Key and Chris Bauer, and it’s the first film written by Bird since Ratatouille. In short, we can’t wait for this one.
Tomorrowland is released 22 May 2015 in UK cinemas. Keep up with the latest genre news with the new issue of SciFiNow.
