Entertainment Weekly announced the following:
"Disney has tapped Brad Bird to direct 1952, a sci-fi project written by Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof and Entertainment Weekly writer Jeff “Doc” Jensen. Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) is coming off the huge success of last year’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, his first live-action film, which grossed nearly $700 million worldwide.
The plot for 1952 is being kept under wraps. The movie is understood to be a major tentpole for Disney.
Doc Jensen, EW’s point person on all things Lost, began his relationship with Lindelof after the series ended in May 2010.
Per Time Inc. policy, Jensen continues to report and write about TV series and films, excluding those produced by Disney and its affiliates."
What struck me as odd was the fact that EW's LOST guru, Jensen, is now in partnership with TPTB from LOST to create a new movie franchise. Disney's business model is not to make one-off movies; let the independent filmmaker do the art films. Disney wants to build "franchises," movies that are big enough to spin off sequels, television shows and money making merchandise. The idea that Jensen began his relationship with Lindelof "after" the series is as unbelievable as The Ending.
Jensen had enormous access as the TV writer to lost, its creators, writers and cast. Jensen was once called the "Cheerleader in Chief" for his wild devotion to the series. He got caught up in all the mysteries, the tangents, the literary references like many of us. For years he wanted Answers like the rest of us; and he was willing to go on the line with his predictions and ideas. But in the end, his final muted columns did not care about Answers but the acceptance of the show's writers to give the characters their happy ending.
Never mind that conclusion puts the entire series story arcs in total irrational chaos.
This latest news may explain why Jensen was less harsh with his final reviews than his fellow critics. It takes years of development before a movie idea is scripted, edited and then green lit for production. Was Jensen in discussions with Lindelof for 1952 prior to the End of LOST? We will never truly know. But if true, and it was undisclosed, that is conflict of interest to his readership.
Also, it is odd that EW did not put Jensen on a sabbatical to write or develop a screenplay in Hollywood. Instead, he continues to cover the industry that he is now an active participant. That is also a potential conflict of interest.
Now, no one in today's economy and media doomsday predictions would fault anyone from trying to score some extra income through their intellectual property, ideas or work. So long is it is fair and square.
As for 1952, a closely guarded plot secret? That year appears to be a possible run off point for various script ideas. First, it is post World War II where a huge male labor force re-enters an exploding manufacturing sector. It was also the early age of commercial aviation builders in California. Second, you had the emergence of celebrity tycoons like Howard Hughes, who flew between business and Hollywood. Third, you had the beginning of the explosion of suburbia, the Happy Days of a nice house, a white picket fence and two cars in every garage. Fourth, you had the Korean conflict and the frigid relations at the start of the Cold War. As a result of American forces taking German scientists after the European conflict ended, great advancements in nuclear technology and space technology happened in the U.S.
If this new project is going to be a franchise for Disney, is this first film part of a series? Star Wars is the classic model for how to build a mega-successful franchise. Will this project throw in the elements that writers appear locked in in the past: science fiction mysteries? And more importantly, will the plot have a better sci-fi platform for believability and actual answers to any mysteries?
1952 could be a combination of Happy Days meets Mad Men, with a mysterious Howard Hughes type tycoon making huge leaps in technology for no apparent reason, leading to X-Files type investigations, cover-ups and conflicts among the main character.
