The Kidd here...
If only we had a better sense of what Brad Bird's TOMORROWLAND was about, there'd be more information to go along with this casting news, but Disney continues to maintain a high level of secrecy surrounding the project written by Damon Lindelof and Jeff Jensen, so just the basics will have to do.
Hugh Laurie is in talks to join TOMORROWLAND in some type of antagonistic role, opposite George Clooney, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He had been in a position to play the villain in MGM's ROBOCOP reboot not too long ago, but that deal never materialized, Michael Keaton took the part, and it left Laurie with an opening in his schedule that has now led to this. We all win (well, except on that ROBOCOP front, but whatever).
I never had a chance to get into HOUSE, but just seeing Laurie in action as the unique doctor in commercials was enough to let me know that I was probably missing out on one hell of a performance... and he didn't get nominated six times for an Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series character for nothing... so this is clearly a good addition to the cast and a major score for TOMORROWLAND.
I'm still intrigued by what TOMORROWLAND's focus may be, and I think JimHillMedia's speculation raises some interesting questions and would make for an intriguing motion picture as far as the subject matter is concerned... but, if Hill is right, I'm not certain where Laurie would fit into things as a bad guy, unless it was someone in the government who may be trying to keep the existence of UFOs a secret. Then again, that assumes the movie is even about UFOs or related to UFOs or... oh, hell... let the speculation begin again.
-Billy Donnelly
"The Infamous Billy The Kidd"
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