Tomorrowland

What if there was a place, a secret place where nothing was impossible? How would you introduce people to that place? For Tomorrowland director Brad Bird, the answer to that question was a show-stopping, six-minute unbroken take that follows its heroine as she explores this magical wonderland for the first time. She watches men in jetpacks zoom overhead, rides a floating monorail, and nearly accepts an invitation to board a rocket ship headed for outer space — until her invite runs out of juice and she’s returned home.

Tomorrowland may have taken the top spot at the box office in its debut weekend, but things still look awfully grim for the George Clooney sci-fi vehicle. Not only did the film open far below expectations, it faced serious competition in Pitch Perfect 2, which continued to kick aca-butt in its second weekend. And it wasn’t the only new release to under-perform, with the Poltergeist remake also falling short of early predictions. If you were a new release this weekend, things were awfully rough.

This should not surprise you considering Damon Lindelof's involvement, but audiences have so far been mixed on Tomorrowland. Some have loved it, others have not. It's a narrative that is not unusual to Damon Lindelof. We sat down to talk with the writer-producer about the film, his feelings on the public perception of his work and why they ultimately decided to cut all the Walt Disney references out of a movie that is very much a Disney film.

There’s a whole lot going on in Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof’s Tomorrowland, which pays tribute to Disney’s imagineering and the forward-thinking mindset of Walt Disney himself. Eagle-eyed fans will likely notice some easter eggs from both Disney past and present, but there’s one little cameo surprise that Bird and Lindelof weren’t able to squeeze in: Stanley Kubrick.

Welcome back to another installment of Post Credits, ScreenCrush’s movie review show. On this week’s episode, ScreenCrush Editor-in-Chief Mike Sampson and Managing Editor and Film Critic Matt Singer get a fast pass to a world beyond, as they debate Brad Bird’s much-anticipated sci-fi thriller Tomorrowland, starring George Clooney and Britt Robertson.

This week’s big release is Tomorrowland, a movie inspired by the futuristic section of Disneyland. It’s the latest step in the ongoing symbiotic relationship between cinema and theme parks. Disney has rides based on movies (Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey) and they make movies based on rides (The Haunted Mansion, The Country Bears) and then the movies they make based on rides influence new versions of those rides (Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow was invented for the screen, but now he’s featured as an audio-animatronic performer in the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions). It’s the snake that eats its own tail, and then puts that tail up for sale in the gift shop.

The best argument for Tomorrowland is its release date; a week after Mad Max: Fury Road, about a world destroyed by an oil war, and a week before San Andreas, in which an apocalyptic earthquake destroys half of North America. Less a blockbuster action film than a stern but well-intentioned lecture accompanied by an elaborate audiovisual presentation, Tomorrowland argues that rampant cynicism is actively poisoning our future. People become so convinced by movies like Mad Max and San Andreas that the world is doomed that they start to believe it really is. So they give up, and dystopia becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Temperatures are getting warmer, days are getting longer and the movies are getting bigger. Yep, summer is here and it’s brought with it one of the most jam-packed movie schedules in years. From superhero movies and post-apocalypitc adventures to rom-coms and animated family flicks, the summer of 2015 has something for everyone. In fact, it may have too much of everything for everyone. You are going to be spending a lot of time in movie theaters over the next three months. And with that, these are the 25 movies you have to have on your radar this summer. Read this list. Study it. Watch the trailers. Create a game plan. Oh, and stay hydrated. Living on popcorn is thirsty business.

Today, Tomorrowland director Brad Bird tweeted out this interesting video, which takes you inside the formation of Plus Ultra — what is Plus Ultra, you ask? It’s the combination of four of the greatest minds in the world, who joined forces to dedicate their lives to “the cultivation of man’s greatest resource: imagination.” The animated video, along with a new viral site, add interesting new layers to the upcoming adventure film.

In a summer filled with sequels and remakes and reboots, Tomorrowland is one of the few truly massive releases that doesn’t have a number in the title. While it may take its name from a “land” in Disney theme parks, the new trailer showcases a film that looks awfully ambitious, nutty and original. The studio’s accountants certainly see this as another avenue in strengthening the company’s theme park IP, but if all such exercises had directors like Brad Bird, the world would probably be a better place, full of more interesting movies.