'Tomorrowland' Plot Revealed? What Brad Bird and George Clooney's Secret Disney Movie May Be About

There's a huge, potentially franchise-starting movie that's been brewing just underneath the surface of mainstream movie coverage. It's a film from the good folks at Disney called "Tomorrowland," directed by "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" director Brad Bird and starring George Clooney. Up until this point, the movie has remained incredibly mysterious. Now, HitFix claims to have obtained an official synopsis -- and it sounds nuts. Some (brief) background: In 2011, "Prometheus" screenwriter Damon Lindelof and Entertainment Weekly reporter Jeff Jensen dreamed up a project for Disney. It was supposedly based on a mysterious box that was found in the Walt Disney Archives, originally designated for the part of the company that would later become Imagineering (which designs and produces all the rides, shows, and restaurants for Disney). The box was labeled "That Darn Cat" (after the 1965 flick), but that label fell off, revealing another title underneath that read, simply: "1952." That would become the working title for the project, even after Brad Bird signed on a year later to direct and George Clooney came aboard to star. Its now-official title, "Tomorrowland,” is obviously named after the futuristically themed portion of Disneyland and the various Magic Kingdoms around the globe. After a robust hypothesis from Disney historian Jim Hill, HitFix uncovered the supposedly real synopsis, which states: "A teenage girl, a genius middle-aged man (who was kicked out of Tomorrowland), and a pre-pubescent girl robot attempt to get to and unravel what happened to Tomorrowland, which exists in an alternative dimension, in order to save Earth." There is even more detail in the HitFix report, which probably garners a spoiler warning if the specifics turn out to be true, but basically it's about an evil scientist (Hugh Laurie) who creates an alternate universe called Tomorrowland. At the beginning, a young inventor (the Clooney character) attempts to gain access to Tomorrowland, but Laurie sends him packing. With the help of a young robot girl named Athena, the Clooney character is admitted to Tomorrowland, but when Laurie finds out, banishes him. Years later, when the Clooney character has matured, he is again approached by the young robot girl and they travel back to Tomorrowland, which is now a dystopia ruled by Laurie. Like I said: nuts. It will be interesting to see if Disney actually fesses up to this synopsis or if they let it linger in the murky waters of is-it-or-isn't-it speculation that contaminates all things "Tomorrowland"-related. Either way, I know where I'll be on December 19th, 2014. [via HitFix]