Skip to main content

Mission: Impossible director teams up with Lost writer for ‘1952’

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Though it’s not much, here’s what we know so far.

Disney has a project in the works currently known as “1952.” Whether this is a reference to the year or not is unknown. Specific cast and plot details are completely lacking, but we know that Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof have signed on to do … something. Bird you may know as the director of the recent Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (not to mention recent animated classics like The Incredibles and The Iron Giant), and Lindelof is best known as the most prolific writer on ABC’s Lost.

According to Deadline, Disney plans for this thing to be a huge movie. Like, “might spawn a franchise and rake in hundreds of millions of dollars” huge. The flick starts shooting next year, and will presumably hit theaters at some nebulous point in the future.

That’s not much to go on, right? Even for purposes of speculation, we’d hope for some clue as to this thing’s plot, and assuming that title is a chronological reference, what happened way back in 1952 that could spawn a major film? According to Wikipedia, 1952 is the year that the Treaty of San Francisco went into effect, “formally ending the war between Japan and the Allies.” Likewise, it was the same year that the US detonated the first hydrogen bomb, codenamed “Operation Ivy.”

Wow, it was also the same year that the “Great Smog” descended on London, killing 4,000, and sickening up to 100,000. Wait a second, didn’t Lost feature a similarly insidious gaseous evil? This is going to be another Lost tie-in, isn’t it? Sigh, we had our fingers crossed for something about that H-bomb. It’s been far too long since we’ve had a quality film about giant ants.

Feel free to speculate wildly in the comments. Obviously we have.

Editors' Recommendations

Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
Everything you need to know about Andor season 2
Cassian aims his gun in Andor.

Andor is arguably Lucasfilm's crowning achievement of the 21st century. While that may be up for debate, there's no denying the success of Andor season 1, culminating with universal acclaim from critics and eight Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. It's certainly the most mature Star Wars project to date.

Created by Tony Gilroy, Andor stars Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, the petty thief who will eventually become a key leader and spy for the Rebel Alliance. Andor is a prequel set five years before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the film where Luna first introduced audiences to Cassian. It's been a long time since Andor season 1 ended in November 2022. Slowly but surely, season 2 is on the way. Below is everything you need to know about Andor season 2.
Is there a release date for Andor season 2?
There is no release date for Andor season 2 yet. Andor season 2 was originally scheduled to be released in August 2024, two years after season 1 premiered. However, the series experienced several production delays while filming because of the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes. Therefore, Andor season 2 had to move its late summer 2024 release date.

Read more
The best stand-up comedy on Netflix right now
Jimmy Carr in Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer.

Even if you live in a city with a thriving stand-up comedy scene like Los Angeles, New York, or Chicago, you're still never going to get a better seat than by staying at home and watching stand-up comedy specials on Netflix. You, the viewer, don't have to go anywhere. Netflix is bringing some of the biggest names in comedy to you for new specials every month. That's almost worth the price of Netflix's subscription fee by itself.

The most recent additions to Netflix's library of stand-up specials are Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer, Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen, and Neal Brennan: Crazy Good. You can find those specials and more in our roundup of the best stand-up comedy on Netflix right now.

Read more
The best Star Wars shows on Disney+
Morgan Elsbeth in Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.

When Disney+ launched in 2019, it was understood that the biggest attractions were the Star Wars and Marvel original series. Nearly five years later, the rollout of shows from those franchises has slowed down to a virtual crawl. However, heading into this year's Star Wars Day, there are actually two new shows on the horizon. But we can't guarantee anything else Star Wars-related will arrive on Disney+ in 2024.

On May 4, Disney+ is premiering the animated anthology series, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, which follows up on some story threads from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Ahsoka. Star Wars: The Acolyte will follow on June 4, but we don't have too many details about that series yet. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew was originally slated to arrive in 2024 as well, but since there's been no sign of that series to date, it may slip into 2025.

Read more