George Clooney In Talks For Brad Bird’s Mysterious Sci-Fi Project ‘1952’
After gallivanting about outer space in Alfonso Cuarón’sGravity,George Clooneywill (possibly) see outer space coming to him inBrad Bird’s1952. The star has just entered negotiations for the sci-fi tentpole, which is set up at Disney. The script comes fromJeff JensenandDamon Lindelof, and has drawn comparisons toClose Encounters of the Third Kind. More details after the jump.
Considering who’s involved, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that plot details are being kept under very tight wraps.Vulturegot wordearlier this fall that the film followed a “Roy Neary-like protagonist,” but said that it was not about an alien encounter as had been previously reported.Variety’s latest update, on the other hand, indicates that1952is indeed about alien contact.
So basically, no one knows anything for certain. But many are speculating that there will be an outer space connection of some sort. 1952 is a big year in alien lore, as that’s whenProject Blue Bookstarted and theWashington D.C. UFO incidenttook place.
What we do know is that Disney isenvisioningthe project as a large-scale tentpole with “multi-platform aspirations.” It received a flurry of attention last week when atheorygot around that1952was a code name forStar Wars VII, but that rumor has since been debunked.
A start date has not been announced, andVariety’s sources stress that1952has not yet received an official greenlight, much less started locking down its cast. Assuming it moves ahead, however, it will be Bird’s next directorial effort and his second live-action movie afterMission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
It’s difficult to gauge Clooney’s suitability for the role without knowing more about it, but his involvement seems like a good sign for the movie in general. Clooney’s an acclaimed A-lister who’s reasonably choosy about his projects, so there must be something about1952that intrigues him. Or so we hope. Clooney’s next set to direct and star inMonuments Men, about art historians protecting treasured artworks from the Nazis during World War II.
