live-action

We all know how incredibly popular the Pirates franchise turned out to be. All three films made Disney a lot of money, and were all extremely entertaining (well…maybe not so much the last one…).

And we all know that if something works, people are bound to do it again!

About a year or so ago, we heard rumblings of two new films based on the Disney Parks. The Jungle Cruise is slated to get the big screen treatment at some point, but not much has been heard about it in awhile (however, a script IS in the works).

We also heard about a movie based, not on a specific attraction, but an the concept of Tomorrowland. This past weekend, during a press junket for the movie The Hangover, we learned a bit more about it from the screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who just finished a draft of the script.

Below is an edited transcript about the film from Scifiwire.com:

What are you guys working on writing?

Moore: We’re working on a sort of sci-fi action comedy for Disney with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, which is called Tomorrowland. Disney had a ton of success with Pirates of the Caribbean, so this is their Pirates of the Caribbean in space.

Lucas: There are meetings every now and again where you can see the gears turning. It’s like, “Well, if we had a mountain in this movie, it would be really easy to call this [Space Mountain].” Tomorrowland is actually a pretty cool title, even though that section of the [Disneyland/Disney World] park is not maybe [as futuristic anymore]. It’s like, “Look at this refrigerator!”

So do you update it or go for the kitsch?

Lucas: We’re not laughing at the idea. We’re not laughing at Tomorrowland or the idea of what people in the ’60s thought the future would be. Our goal, whether we’re successful or not, is the vision of the future is actually the best future. It’s not post-apocalyptic or dark and gritty. It’s like everything you wish you could have, every gadget and device and car, that’s what it’s like in the future. So the future is actually really great.

What year is it set?

Moore: It’s a little bit of a moving target, but it’s about 350 years in the future.

Lucas: It’s hard, because when you go back and watch good sci-fi, it’s like the year 2010, and we’re in 2010, and Kevin Costner’s not walking a mule around. You have to put it far enough that people in the theater aren’t openly laughing at the concept, but it can’t be so far. Things are changing so quickly that in 300 years things will probably be pretty unrecognizable.

Is this a fast-track project?

Moore: No. It all depends. We’re going to be turning in a draft maybe in three weeks, but don’t write that down, because then we’ll get calls from the executives. It all depends on how the draft is received.

What’s Johnson’s character?

Moore: In Tomorrowland his character’s name is Rip, and he plays a present-day test pilot who tests a plane and gets shot into the future. So he’s a sort of a fish out of water in the future, and he is sort of figuring out how everything works. Along the way, the people in the future don’t know who he is, and they actually think he’s bad guy bent on destroying the future.

Was he always involved when you started writing?

Lucas: We actually came on with him.

Moore: When we first started loosely talking to Disney about the idea, he was not involved, but they said, “Hey, we want to do a sci-fi with him, and you guys are pitching a sci-fi.” They put us together, so when we actually sold the pitch to them, he was attached, so it was always designed for him.

Lucas: He’s also quite literally the easiest guy to work with, the nicest guy. I think he’s been doing it so long, he’s great, so we’re lucky to have him on board.

I’m curious to see how this one will turn out. Even though the film is called Tomorrowland and based on the area of the same name, what version of tomorrow will we be seeing? Disney has changed Tomorrowland a few times over the years, and I’m interested in seeing how this film turns out.

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