Over the past few weeks, I feel like I've heard a lot about George Clooney's new film Tomorrowland — and I've also felt like I haven't heard anything at all. I know it's about the future, written by LOST's Damon Lindelof, and it's a movie based on that really cool area at Disney theme parks. Naturally, Tomorrowland held its premiere at Disneyland on Saturday, while Clooney and Lindelof only offered small clues about what we can expect from the futuristic adventure film, directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol).
Details of the movie's plot have been kept under wraps and the official synopsis of the movie is very vague: "Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (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." From that description, Tomorrowland sounds like a pretty standard future flick, but this one is supposed to be a vision of the future unlike anything we've seen in cinema — a future world that doesn't involve a disaster or apocalypse of some kind.
"I liked the idea and how hopeful it was," Clooney told Variety at the premiere, which he attended with wife Amal and Amal's niece Mia. "I like that it decided how the future wasn’t inevitable and there’s something you can do about it."
Here are my best guesses for what happens in Tomorrowland based on the clues from the premiere.
Everything's Going To Be Innovative
Bird and Lindelof told Variety that they took inspiration from Walt Disney's own visions of the future. "Walt’s thinking was that the future is not something that happens to us," Lindelof said. "It’s something we make happen. And we really wanted to take that baton and run with it."
As for their own visions, the team refused to offer clues — except that they both would love to see jetpacks as a ride in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. "Brad has been vigilant about protecting the secrets of the movie," Lindelof said. "I think it’s kind of exciting to sit in your seat and go, 'I don’t know what’s about to happen.'"
Mostly likely, though, we'll see things that are way more advanced than jetpacks in the actual film.
Keegan-Michael Key Plays An "Unusual Shopkeeper"
Key, famous for his hit Comedy Central series Key & Peele, has a role in Tomorrowland that is super secret. What does playing an "unusual shopkeeper" entail? Borrowing from Bird's previous film, perhaps Key's shopkeep is like Edna Mode in The Incredibles, who dressed the superhero family and provided them with cool tools. Maybe it's Key who is the key (ahem) to all the innovation.
And even if he is, the comedian ain't talking. "I feel like I signed six NDAs (non-disclosure agreements)," he told Variety. "They did a really good job of keeping it under wraps."
The Movie Does Not Feature Disneyland — But Was Filmed There
Despite its Disneyland origins, the theme park doesn't make an appearance in the film as the park, according to The OC Register. But parts of the film were filmed at Tomorrowland at Disneyland. Yeah, I know, this is getting kinda meta here. Especially if it turns out that Tomorrowland's Disneyland scenes in Tomorrowland actually do take place in Tomorrowland in the movie.
I don't think it gets more meta than that.
Images: Getty Images (3)
