George Clooney may be taking direction from Brad Bird at the Mouse House in the near future.
Variety is reporting Clooney is currently negotiating to star in 1952, a project being compared to Close Encounters of the Third Kind that revolves around a man who makes first contact with aliens on Earth. Other details are being kept tightly under wraps.
Clooney’s next project is The Monuments Men that he will star in and also co-wrote. That project, about a team of British and American art experts who engage in a mission to recover expensive artwork stolen by Nazis during World War II, is still coming together with a cast that will include John Goodman, Daniel Craig, Hugh Bonneville, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban and Jean Dujardin. Clooney’s schedule doesn’t leave him available for 1952 until late spring or summer at the earliest.
Damon Lindelof (Prometheus, Lost) and Jeff “Doc” Jensen (Entertainment Weekly senior writer who covered Lost) wrote the 1952 screenplay. Brad Bird is attached to direct in what would be his second live-action feature ever after Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
Variety’s sources served them the scoop with a caveat: Disney has yet to green light 1952. The way the high-profile chips are falling into place, it seems like a no-brainer unless the screenplay has some serious issues. After the reception Prometheus endured, everyone’s expectations should be tempered.
Source: Variety