House star Hugh Laurie is eyeing the role of the lead villain in Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof’s secret Disney project Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney.
Not much is known about the top-secret project, formally known as 1952, although it is a sci-fi project said to be in the vein of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Because details of the project are under lock and key, nothing is known about Laurie’s character other than he will be the chief antagonist.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Laurie is currently in talks for the role, which we assume would pit the British actor against George Clooney. Apart from his turn in the excellent, if not woefully under-appreciated, ensemble comedy The Oranges and a few animated films, this would be Laurie’s first major film role since House came to an end last year.
Speculation over the past few days seems to be leaning towards some sort of UFO-related aspect of the script, which was co-written by Lindelof and Jeff Jensen, an editor at Entertainment Weekly. Of course with the project being described as in the vein of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, that isn’t exactly a far-fetched theory.