Tomorrowland
Brad Bird’sTomorrowlandis one of the more ambitious movies Disney ’s issue in a while , but ( for multiple reason ) it bombed at the box role . The brainchild of Bird and writers Damon Lindelof and Jeff Jensen , the film is n’t so much an adaptation of the classic Disney theme park nation of the same name as an original sci - fi dangerous undertaking broadly inspired by the nation ’s optimistic vision of the future . It was also a highly secretive project during its development ( even going under the working title1952early on ) , so few knew what to look before theTomorrowlandmarketing kicked off .
The movie asterisk Britt Robertson as Casey Newton , a bright - eyed , tech - savvy teenager who discover the existence of an alternate - dimension cityscape know as Tomorrowland and gets Frank Welker ( George Clooney ) , a disillusioned inventor who was banished from Tomorrowland years earlier , to ( begrudgingly ) take her there , in the hopes of uncovering the trueness about the destiny of the cosmos . Also along for the drive is Athena ( Raffey Cassidy ) , a droid from Tomorrowland who " recruited " Frank long ago and believes Casey has the potency to change the world for the better .
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Despite having the power of the Mouse House behind it ( and being literally named after a Disney theme park land),Tomorrowlanddidn’t have a short ton of buzzahead of its release in 2015 and only gross $ 209 million at the box office - nowhere near enough to cover its $ 190 million budget ( not count selling costs ) . Arguably , the trailer were part of the problem and did n’t really do a great job of excuse what the movie was even about , or playing up its not bad set composition ( like a sequence where the Eiffel Tower translate into a dimension - hopping passee rocket ) . This was partly to avoid spoiling the plot of ground and late preview admittedly did a better job of highlighting the action mechanism , yet even then they struggled to excuse the basic stakes of the history , so the whole matter feel a footling hollow .
To be fair , theTomorrowlandmarketing squad did n’t on the nose have an easy job ; there is alotgoing on in the film , and it ’s near - impossible to neatly pack together it into a two - minute preview . Not helping matter , review were mixed forTomorrowland , with critic praising its giddy sense of pacing and cartoony legal action ( both hallmarks of Bird ’s filmmaking style , as manifest byThe Incredibles 1 & 2andMission : Impossible - Ghost Protocol ) , but bring it to task for an underwhelming third turn and a message about the grandness of positive thinking that , while well - intentioned , get along across as a petty shallow due to its unwillingness to address where the world ’s problem stem from . As much as there is to like aboutTomorrowlandand its passion , even many of its supporters would admit it can be a bumpy ride .
Some Disney titles ( like Star Wars and MCU ) can get away with overly mysterious marketing and/or lukewarm review , but the combination was too much for a ( mostly ) original picture likeTomorrowland . But even then , its monumental budget was another factor that take to the film bombing . Had it cost one-half as much or " only " $ 100 million to make , it would ’ve wear even or come in close to doing so . Instead , much like it had done withJohn CarterandLone Ranger , the Mouse House but threw too much money at a project that was anything but a surefire bet , even if everything else had gone right . And while there ’s something admirable about the studio spending that variety of cash on what was clearly a personal production for its creators ( as contradict to one of Disney ’s pigment - by - numbers live - action remakes ) , thing just did n’t pan out out here .
Still , all talking of its flaws apart , there ’s a lot to like aboutTomorrowland- and if Disney ’s get going to gamble on anything , it ought to be ambitious and creative undertakings like this and the few non - sequels and non - remakes the studio apartment has green - lit in the year since it came out ( see also : A Wrinkle in Time ) . Who knows : perhaps younger generations will rediscover the movie ( be it on home media or streaming via Disney+ ) down the line and embrace it far more than audiences originally did .
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