Back in September Disney announced that they were developing a film project based on the Tomorrowland section of their theme parks, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson attached to star. At the time all we knew was that Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Hangover) were writing the screenplay and that the film probably wouldn’t be titled Tomorrowland. Information has started to come out about the project thanks to Collider and SciFi, who were in attendance at The Hangover junket this weekend in Las Vegas.

The film, which appears to be officially titled Tomorrowland after all, is a fish out of water sci-fi action adventure comedy with a modern day test pilot named Rip (The Rock), who gets transported 350 years into the future while testing a new concept plane.

The future is not dark, gritty or post-apocalyptic, but instead a fantastic place where every gadget or device is cooler than you expected it to be. In my previous article, I wished that the film would be set in a retro future, the 1960’s version of tomorrow, but it seems like that isn’t the plan.

Rip is stranded in the future, and must  “figure out how everything works”. A misunderstanding causes the people of the future to believe that Rip is some evil bad guy trying to destroy their time. “So Rip is sort of on the run.” Moore, speaking about the film’s tone, called it “Pirates [of the Caribbean] in space.”

Disney is on the 3D bandwaggon, and this seems like another perfect project for that technology. It sounds like the film is still early in the developmental stages. Moore expects to turn in a draft of the screenplay in early June, but is unsure if the film will be fast tracked into production or go through another series of drafts (the latter is probably more likely).

As a kid, I use to love The Jetsons. The imagination that went into every little piece of tech on that show was incredible for a cartoon series. I can probably credit the show for my intense love of technology. When it was revealed that Robert Rodriguez was developing a live-action version of the animated series, people were quick to write it off as another Flintstones. But I actually think that a film set in a very futuristic world could be a lot of fun, even if it is geared towards children/families.

And it’s been a while since we’ve seen a bright version of the future on screen. One that contains the magic, fun and wonder of the old Hanna Barbara cartoons. And while it appears that a Jetsons movie won’t be happening anytime soon, as Rodriguez has 3 or 4 other plates spinning — Tomorrowland could be a great alternative, especially if it is more Pirates than Race to Witch Mountain. I’ve heard that the Moore-scripted comedy The Hangover is hilarious. Hopefully he will be able to walk the fine line of funny but not goofy.