| Tomorrowland | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Brad Bird |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by |
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| Based on | Walt Disney'sTomorrowland |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Claudio Miranda |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Michael Giacchino |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures[2] |
Release dates |
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Running time | 130 minutes[3] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $180–190 million[4] |
| Box office | $209 million[5] |
Tomorrowland (also known asProject T in some regions and subtitledA World Beyond in some other regions) is a 2015 Americanscience fiction film directed byBrad Bird with a screenplay by Bird andDamon Lindelof. The film is based on thethemed landTomorrowland from theDisney Parks and a story by Bird, Lindelof, andJeff Jensen. It starsGeorge Clooney,Hugh Laurie,Britt Robertson,Raffey Cassidy,Tim McGraw,Kathryn Hahn, andKeegan-Michael Key. In the film, a disillusioned genius inventor and a teenage science enthusiast embark to an intriguingalternate dimension known as "Tomorrowland", where their actions directly affect their own world.
Walt Disney Pictures originally announced the film in June 2011 under theworking title1952 and later retitled it toTomorrowland after the Disney Parks theme land.[6][7] In drafting their story, Bird and Lindelof took inspiration from the progressive cultural movements of theSpace Age, as well asWalt Disney's optimistic philosophy of the future, notably his conceptual vision for theplanned community known asEPCOT.[8][9]Principal photography began in August 2013, with scenes shot at multiple locales in five countries.[10]
Tomorrowland was released byWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in conventional andIMAX formats on May 22, 2015. The film, which received mixed reviews from critics, grossed $209 million worldwide and was considered acommercial failure for losing Disney $120–150 million at the box office.[11][12][13]
Young boy Frank Walker attends theNew York World's Fair to sell his prototypejet pack, but is rejected because it does not work. He is approached by the young girl Athena, who hands him an orangelapel pin with a blue "T" embossed on it, telling him to follow her ontoWalt Disney's "It's a Small World" attraction at the Fair'sPepsi-Cola Pavilion. Frank obeys, sneaking onto the ride. There, the pin is scanned by a laser, and he is transported to Tomorrowland, a futuristic cityscape, where advanced robots fix his jetpack, allowing him to fly and join the secretive world.
In the present day,optimistic teenager Casey Newton repeatedly sabotages the planned demolition of aNASA launch site in Florida. Her father Eddie, a NASA engineer, faces losing his job. Casey is eventually caught and arrested. At the police station, she finds a pin in her belongings. Touching it, the pin transports her to Tomorrowland. Her adventure is cut short when the pin's battery runs out, leaving Casey stranded in a lake.
With help from her younger brother Nate, Casey finds aHouston memorabilia store related to the pin. The owners attack her when she is unable to divulge where she got the pin, insisting that Casey knows about a "little girl". Athena bursts in and defeats the owners, actuallyAudio-Animatronics, who self-destruct, blowing apart the shop. After Casey and Athena steal a car, Athena reveals she is also an animatronic, purposed to find and recruit people who fit the ideals of Tomorrowland. She then drops Casey off outside an adult Frank's house inPittsfield, New York. The now reclusive, cynical Frank declines Casey's request to take her to Tomorrowland, having been banished from it years ago. Inside his house, Casey finds a probability counter marking the end of the world. Frank warns her that the future is doomed, but she disagrees, thus lowering the counter's probability.
Animatronic assassins arrive to kill Casey, but she and Frank escape, meeting Athena in the woods outside his house. Frank resents Athena for lying to him about her true nature, but reluctantly agrees to help them get to Tomorrowland. Using a teleportation device, the trio travel to the top of theEiffel Tower. Frank explains thatGustave Eiffel,Jules Verne,Nikola Tesla, andThomas Edison co-foundedPlus Ultra, a secret society of futurists, creating Tomorrowland in another dimension, free to make scientific breakthroughs without obstruction. The trio use an antique rocket, called theSpectacle, hidden beneath the Eiffel Tower to travel to Tomorrowland.
There, they find Tomorrowland in a state of decay. David Nix, Tomorrowland's governor, greets them. They travel to atachyonmachine, invented by Frank, which accurately predicted the worldwide catastrophe. Casey refuses to accept the world will end, causing the future to temporarily alter. Frank attempts to convince Nix to listen, who refuses and intends to have the group leave Tomorrowland. Casey realizes the tachyon machine is telling humanity that the world will end, creating aself-fulfilling prophecy. They confront Nix, who admits he tried to prevent the future by projecting such images to humanity as a warning. Instead, they embraced theapocalypse, refusing to act to make a better future for their world.
Believing that humanity simply gave up, Nix has too and intends to allow the apocalypse to happen so he can rebuild the world to his liking. Casey, Frank, and Athena attempt to use a bomb to destroy the machine, leading to a fight with Nix. The bomb is accidentally thrown through a portal to an uninhabited island on Earth, the explosion pinning Nix's leg. Athena sees a vision of the future where Frank is shot by Nix, and she jumps in the way of his attack, mortally wounding herself beyond repair. Making peace with Frank, Athena activates her self-destruct sequence, destroying the machine, which falls on Nix, killing him.
In the present, Casey and Frank lead Tomorrowland, recruit Eddie and Nate, and create a new group of recruitment animatronics like Athena, whom they were addressing at the beginning of the film. Given pins, the animatronic children set out to recruit new dreamers and thinkers for Tomorrowland.
In 2010,Damon Lindelof began discussions withWalt Disney Studios about producing a modern science-fiction Disney film, withTomorrowland as a basis.[14] The project was greenlit byWalt Disney Pictures' president of production,Sean Bailey in June 2011 with Lindelof signed on to write and produce a film with the working title of1952.[15] Lindelof askedJeff Jensen, who had previously published material on Lindelof'sLost television series, if he would be interested in contributing to story elements. Jensen agreed and began to research the history of theWalt Disney Company, particularlyWalt Disney's fascination withfuturism, scientific innovation andutopia, as well as his involvement with the1964 New York World's Fair and Disney's unrealized concept forEPCOT.[14] In May 2012,Brad Bird was hired as director, as well as write with Lindelof.[16] Bird's story ideas and themes were influenced by the fading of cultural optimism that once defined societyin the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, stating that, "When Damon and I were first talking about the project, we were wondering why people's once-bright notions about the future gradually seemed to disappear."[17]
While keeping information about the plot secret, when asked in November 2012 whether the project would beStar Wars: Episode VII, Bird denied the rumor, but confirmed thatTomorrowland would be a science-fiction film,[18] with Lindelof adding that the film would not center onextraterrestrials.[19] Coincidentally, Bird had been tapped to directStar Wars: Episode VII, but turned down the offer in order to work onTomorrowland.[20] Later that month,George Clooney entered negotiations to star in the film.[21] In February 2013,Hugh Laurie joined the film.[22][23] In July 2013,Britt Robertson was cast.[24]
On January 23, 2013, nearly a week before the title change, Birdtweeted a picture related to the project. The image showed a frayed cardboard box labeled1952, supposedly uncovered from theWalt Disney Imagineering developmental unit,[25] and containing items like archival photographs of Walt Disney,Technicolor film, envelopes, avinyl record,space technology literature, a 1928 copy of anAmazing Stories magazine (which introducedPhilip Francis Nowlan'sBuck Rogers character), and an unidentified metal object.[26] On August 10, 2013, Bird and Lindelof gave a presentation at theD23 Expo inAnaheim, California, where they opened the "1952" box and revealed many of its contents.[27] Later that day apavilion was unveiled on the D23 Expo show floor which presented the items for close inspection by guests. There was also an accompanyingiPhone app[28] which took viewers through the exhibit much like one would experience at a museum.Michael Giacchino was hired to compose the film music.[29]
Originally, the film included overt references to Walt Disney's involvement withPlus Ultra, the fictional organization founded byGustave Eiffel,Jules Verne,Nikola Tesla, andThomas Edison — including the idea thatDisneyland'sTomorrowland was intended to be a cover-up for the real one developed by the group — however, the scenes and dialogue were omitted from the final cut of the film.[30]Pixar Animation Studios created an animated short film, narrated byMaurice LaMarche, that explained the backstory ofPlus Ultra, which was planned to be incorporated into an excised scene where a young Frank Walker is transported beneath the "It's a Small World" attraction, and through an informative series of displays, reminiscent of Disneydark rides.[31]
Principal photography commenced inEnderby, British Columbia on August 8, 2013,[32][33] and also filmed inVancouver.[34] In October,Kathryn Hahn was cast as a character named Ursula.[35] That same month, it was announced that part of the filming would take place in theCity of Arts and Sciences in Valencia.[36] In November, scenes depicting the Newtons' hometown were shot atNew Smyrna Beach, and theCarousel of Progress attraction atWalt Disney World in Florida.[37] On February 3, 2014, additional filming took place at theIt's a Small World attraction atDisneyland in California,[38] and wrapped on February 6.[39] The film's production designers incorporated the designs ofSpace Mountain andSpaceship Earth as architectural features of the Tomorrowland cityscape.[40][41] Per a suggestion by Bird during production, theWalt Disney Pictures openingproduction logo features the Tomorrowland skyline instead of the studio's conventional fantasy castle.[42]Industrial Light & Magic created the visual effects forTomorrowland.[43]
During post-production, a number of scenes featuring actressJudy Greer as Jenny Newton, Casey's (Robertson) late mother were cut in order to improve the film's runtime. Greer's role was reduced to minor cameo, while actorLochlyn Munro, who portrayed Casey's live-in uncle Anthony, had his scenes removed completely.[44]
Themusical score forTomorrowland was composed by Bird's recurrent collaboratorMichael Giacchino. A soundtrack album was released digitally on May 19, 2015, followed by a physical release on June 2, 2015. Songs not included on the album, but featured in the film include "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" and "It's a Small World (After All)", both written byRichard M. Sherman andRobert B. Sherman, and "I Got Mine" byThe Black Keys.[10]
The Optimist, analternate reality game, was created byWalt Disney Imagineering withWalt Disney Studios to create the world of Tomorrowland and to introduce the movie to the Disney theme park fan base. It occurred in a fictionalized version of Disney history and players interacted with multiple characters that led them on a hunt across a variety of places with clues and puzzles leading to more. It ran from July 3, 2013, to August 11, 2013, leading players around the Anaheim area and withinDisneyland, culminating at theD23 Expo.[45][46][47]
Before Tomorrowland, a prequel tie-in novel to the film, was published byDisney Press on April 7, 2015.[48] written byBrad Bird,Damon Lindelof,Jeff Jensen, andJonathan Case.
Tomorrowland held its world premiere at theDisneyland Resort inAnaheim, California on May 9, 2015.[8] The film was released on May 22, 2015, in theaters andIMAX,[49] and was the first film to be released inDolby Vision format inDolby Cinema.[50][51][52]
Despite owning thetrademark to the word "Tomorrowland" in the United States since 1970, Disney released the film in the United Kingdom asTomorrowland: A World Beyond, and asProject T in several European markets, including the Netherlands, Belgium, andLuxembourg, becauseID&T had previously registered the trademark in 2005, for theirelectronic musical festival of the same name.[53][54] In compliance to Disney's ownership of the trademark in the United States, ID&T renamed the American version of their music festival asTomorrowWorld.[55]
Tomorrowland was released byWalt Disney Studios Home Entertainment onBlu-ray,DVD, anddigital download on October 13, 2015.[56] Upon its first week of release on home media in the U.S., the film debuted at number 3 at the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks overall disc sales, and number 4 at the Blu-ray Disc sales chart with 47% of unit sales coming from Blu-ray.[57] The film is currently available to stream onDisney+.[58]
Tomorrowland grossed $93.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $115.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $209 million,[5] against a production budget of $180–190 million.[4]The Hollywood Reporter estimated that the film cost $280 million to produce and market, and noted that the financial losses by Disney finished anywhere between $120 and $150 million.[13] According to them,Tomorrowland was the third originaltent-pole film of 2015 toflop, followingJupiter Ascending andSeventh Son.[59]Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distribution chief, Dave Hollis, commented on the film's debut performance, saying, "Tomorrowland is an original movie and that's more of a challenge in this marketplace. We feel it's incredibly important for us as a company and as an industry to keep telling original stories."[60]
In the United States and Canada,Tomorrowland was released on May 22, 2015, from 3,970 theaters in its opening weekend.[61] During the four-dayMemorial Day weekend, it grossed $42.7 million — the lowest opening for a big-budget tentpole since Disney'sPrince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which opened to $37.8 million in 2010 — coming infirst place, after a close race withPitch Perfect 2 which grossed $38.9 million in its second weekend.[4][62][63] Considering the film's $190 million budget ($280–330 million, including marketing costs),[59][64] many media outlets considered the film's opening in the U.S. and Canada a box office failure.[64][65][66]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 49% of 302 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Ambitious and visually stunning,Tomorrowland is unfortunately weighted down by uneven storytelling."[67]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[68] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[61]
Peter Travers ofRolling Stone gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Brad Bird'sTomorrowland, a noble failure about trying to succeed, is written and directed with such open-hearted optimism that you cheer it on even as it stumbles."[69] Stephanie Merry ofThe Washington Post gave the film two out of four stars, saying "Maybe the ultimate goal ofTomorrowland remains obscure because once you know where the story is headed, you realize it's a familiar tale. The movie can conjure up futuristic images, but the story is nothing we haven't seen before."[70] Moira MacDonald ofThe Seattle Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Though it's made with great energy and inventiveness, there's something ultimately muddy aboutTomorrowland; it's as if director Brad Bird got so caught up in the sets and effects and whooshing editing that the story somehow slipped away."[71] Colin Covert of theStar Tribune gave the film two out of four stars, saying "A well-oiled machine of visuals, and yet a wobbling rattletrap of storytelling, the sci-fi fantasyTomorrowland is an unwieldy clunker driven into the ditch at full speed."[72]James Berardinelli of Reelviews.net gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "For a while, it doesn't matter that the plot meanders. The story seems like a jigsaw puzzle inviting us to solve it. That's the fun part. However, when the resolution is presented, it underwhelms."[73]A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times gave the film a negative review, saying "It's important to note thatTomorrowland is not disappointing in the usual way. It's not another glib, phoned-in piece of franchise mediocrity, but rather a work of evident passion and conviction. What it isn't is in any way convincing or enchanting."[74]
Steven Rea ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Unlikely to be remembered in decades to come — or even in months to come, once the next teenage dystopian fantasy inserts itself into movie houses."[75]
Ty Burr ofThe Boston Globe gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Rapturous on a scene-by-scene basis and nearly incoherent when taken as a whole, the movie is idealistic and deranged, inspirational and very, very conflicted."[76] Stephen Whitty ofThe Star-Ledger (Newark) gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying "StripTomorrowland down to its essentials, and you get an ending out of "I'd like to teach the world to sing" and a moral which boils down to: Just be positive, OK? So OK. I'm positiveTomorrowland was a disappointment."[77]
David Edelstein ofVulture gave the film a positive review, stating that "Tomorrowland is the most enchanting reactionary cultural diatribe ever made. It's so smart, so winsome, so utterly rejuvenating that you'll have to wait until your eyes have dried and your buzz has worn off before you can begin to argue with it."[78] Inkoo Kang ofTheWrap also wrote a positive review, saying "Tomorrowland is a globe-trotting, time-traveling caper whose giddy visual whimsies and exuberant cartoon violence are undermined by a coy mystery that stretches as long as the line for 'Space Mountain' on a hot summer day."[79] Brian Truitt ofUSA Today gave the film three out of four stars, saying "A spectacular ride for most of it, and while you're a little let down at the end, you kind of want to jump back on and do it all over again."[80]
Linda Barnard of theToronto Star gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Brad Bird presents a gorgeously wrought, hopeful future vision inTomorrowland, infusing the family film with enough entertaining action and retro-themed whiz bang to forgive an awkward opening and third-act weakness."[81] A.A. Dowd ofThe A.V. Club gave the film a B−, saying "Bird stages the PG mayhem with his usual grasp of dimension and space, his gift for action that's timed like physical comedy. He keeps the whole thing moving, even when it begins to feel bogged down by preachiness and sci-fi exposition."[82] Forrest Wickman, ofSlate, said the film's "politics might be a little incoherent, or naïve. It is a kids' movie, after all."[83] Anthony Perrotta ofEntropy commented that the film was inspired by the beliefs of bothWalt Disney andAyn Rand, similarly toAndrew Ryan, the villain inBioShock who constructedRapture, a city that resembles Tomorrowland in its secrecy and intention to encourage scientific development ofidealists by isolating them from the rest of the world.[84] Amy Nicholson ofLA Weekly gave the film a B+, saying "Bird has made a film that every child should see. And if his $190 million dreamflops, he'll be asking the same question as his movie: When did it become uncool to care?"[85]
| Award / Film Festival | Category | Nominees | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Art Directors Guild Awards | Best Production Design for a Fantasy Film | Scott Chambliss | Nominated | [86] |
| Saturn Awards | Best Production Design | Nominated | [87] [88] | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Tomorrowland | Nominated | [89] |
| Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy | George Clooney | Nominated | ||
| Choice Movie Actress: Sci-Fi/Fantasy | Britt Robertson | Nominated | ||
| Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature | Barry Williams, Greg Kegel, Quentin Marmier, and Thang Lee | Nominated | [90] [91] |
| Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature | Francois Lambert, Jean Lapointe, Peter Demarest, and Conny Fauser | Nominated | ||
| World Soundtrack Academy | Soundtrack Composer of the Year | Michael Giacchino | Won | [92] |
the Space Mountain rollercoaster (look closely and you will spot it on the skyline of the film version of Tomorrowland).
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