Last summer, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof talked about his collaboration with Tom Perrotta (Election) in adapting Perrotta’s 2011 post-Rapture novel The Leftovers for HBO, which the premium network picked up in February.  It was announced today (via Production Weekly) that Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Hancock, Battleship) is now on board to direct the pilot, continuing a trend of movie directors making a move to the small screen.  Filming will take place in New York and should start in mid-June, so expect a 2014 premiere date should HBO pick the pilot up to series.

The Leftovers marks Lindelof’s first return to television since the end of Lost (however you feel about that), but as has been pointed out, him being so in demand for big-screen projects may see him reduce his involvement with the series a tad, although he did co-write the Leftovers pilot with Perrotta and appears to be on-track to serve as showrunner.  Hit the jump for more on The Leftovers.

Quite a hubbub occurred earlier today over 20th Century Fox’s supposed difficulty in developing a sequel to Prometheus, and now screenwriter Damon Lindelof has provided a statement on the matter.  Talk of a follow-up to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi film has been around ever since Scott and Co. were doing press for the first film, with both Scott and Lindelof offering up plenty of details regarding where Prometheus 2 might lead.  The first film was developed with an eye towards possibly moving forward with a full trilogy should audiences spark to Prometheus, and with a global box office haul of $403 million, Fox is understandably keen on getting a sequel going soon.

Lindelof opted not to come back and pen the script for the follow-up due to scheduling issues, and a new report today claims that Fox and Scott are “freaking out” over trying to figure out the story for Prometheus 2 after Lindelof “abandoned” the project.  Hit the jump for much more, including Lindelof’s comment on the matter.

With a little under two months to go before the release of director J.J. Abrams’ sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, it’s a bit crazy to think that the identity of the film’s villain character played by Benedict Cumberbatch has yet to be officially confirmed.  There are plenty of people who think they know who Cumberbatch plays (Khaaaaaan!), but no one from the movie has officially stated who this character actually is beyond the name “John Harrison.”  This has all been part of the plan from the get-go, hatched by Abrams and his creative partners, including screenwriter Damon Lindelof.

Both Abrams and Lindelof have a bit of a reputation for their penchant for secrecy when it comes to new projects, and the two have essentially mastered the “non-answer answer” with regards to the countless promotional interviews that are necessary for films on the scale of Into Darkness or Prometheus.  Lindelof recently spoke a bit about Into Darkness, revealing why it’s so important to them to keep the nature of Cumberbatch’s character a secret and talking about the theme of Into Darkness in relation to the first film.  Hit the jump to read on.

Last June, Damon Lindelof talked about his TV adaptation Tom Perrotta‘s novel, The Leftovers.  The series would be Lindelof’s first since Lost, and takes place after the “Sudden Departure”, and is about the people who didn’t make the cut.  Unlike the Left Behind series, The Leftovers appears to focus more on the practical aspects of a Rapture-like event rather than using it as a gateway for a biblically-influence story.  According to Vulture, HBO has ordered a pilot for the series, which will take place three years after the departure.  We reported that Lindelof would serve as the showrunner, but since his screenwriter career for feature films seems to have blossomed, I’m not sure if he’ll return to TV on a permanent basis.  In any event, he’ll still serve as executive producer alongside Perrotta, Ron Yerxa, and Albert Berger.  If HBO orders a series, don’t expect to see it until 2014.

Hit the jump for a synopsis of Perrotta’s novel.

Director Brad Bird’s feature film collaboration with screenwriter Damon Lindelof has an intriguing new title.  Previously referred to as 1952, the project (which stars George Clooney) was hatched when Lindelof stumbled across a box in Walt Disney’s personal development lab with the label “1952.”  Lindelof and Bird tweeted pictures of the box’s contents last week, giving us a tease as to what the film’s plot may involve.  Rumors have swirled that the story may have something to do with the creation of a theme park, and that theory has been given a bit more credence today as Disney has announced that 1952 has been retitled Tomorrowland.

Nothing further was revealed, but my interest in this project seems to grow with each new revelation.  Lindelof and Bird are currently working on the script based on an idea by Lindelof and Jeff Jensen, with Bird set to direct and produce.  The two hope to begin production this year in anticipation of the film’s December 19, 2014 release date.

Though there are a number of highly anticipated projects in development at the moment (Star Wars 7 anyone?), the collaboration between director Brad Bird and screenwriter Damon Lindelof is certainly one of the more curious upcoming films.  Titled 1952, we know very little about the pic other than it’s rumored to be about a middle-aged man’s contact with alien life.  George Clooney is set to star, and the genesis of the project apparently came about when Lindelof stumbled upon a box in Walt Disney’s personal development lab with the label “1952” written on it.

Now that the film has a firm release date of December 2014 and production is set to begin later this year, Lindelof and Bird have begun teasing what’s to come.  Yesterday Lindelof tweeted a picture of the unopened box, quickly followed by a tweet from Bird that reveals a snapshot of the box’s contents.  Hit the jump to take a look.

If you’re looking forward to director J.J. Abrams Star Trek sequel (Star Trek Into Darkness), you’re about to have a great day.  That’s because at a recent Star Trek event at Bad Robot, I landed an exclusive interview with co-screenwriter Damon Lindelof and got some great updates on one of the biggest movies of 2013!  If you’re curious about the new timeline, when the movie takes place, how writing the sequel was different than the first film, studio notes, how casting Benedict Cumberbatch changed the script, the way Abrams wanted to convey the Enterprise was this massive starship, Easter eggs, Redshirt deaths, and so much more, hit the jump.

If you follow Damon Lindelof on Twitter, you know that he’s a huge fan of both The Walking Dead and Homeland (two of the best shows on television).  So when I spoke to him at the recent Star Trek Bad Robot press day (and during a follow up phone call), we talked about the success of The Walking Dead and his thoughts on the Homeland season 2 finale.  While Lindelof is not involved with either show, he’s a passionate fan of both and thought you might like to hear his thoughts.

Note: Massive Homeland spoilers are discussed.  Do not read unless you are caught up.

I’ll be honest, I did very little preparation for this week’s Top 5. With the all-encompassing destruction of the Mayan Apocalypse staring us in the face, I kind of figured what’s the point? No one’s going to care about movie news when Smoke from Mortal Kombat III’s fatality proves prophetic and Earth explodes, right? Alas, as is so often the case, the Mayans failed us and I was forced to pull things together at the last minute.

In this, our first post-Mayan calendar installment, we have This Is 40 interviews with Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann, and Paul Rudd, a new teaser trailer and images for Star Trek Into Darkness, the first trailer for Michael Bay‘s Pain and Gain, the scoop on Damon Lindelof‘s lack of involvement in the Prometheus sequel and new info on 1952, and the first red-band clip and poster from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg‘s This Is the End. Brief recaps and links to each are waiting after the jump.

While there are always many projects in development in the studio system, 1952 is near the top of my list.  That’s because not only is Damon Lindelof writing the film, it’s going to be directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, The Iron Giant, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), who only makes awesome movies.  While plot details are under wraps, everything points towards a large scale mystery film that may star George Clooney.  The last thing we heard about the plot was, “the picture is said to center on the journey of a middle-aged man and his contact with alien life,” but this one liner could easily be wrong.

At a recent Bad Robot press event for the Star Trek sequel (more on that soon), I got to speak to Lindelof about 1952 and asked how it’s going.  He revealed that he hopes to be in production in mid-2013, that Bird is now co-writing the film, and how he got Bird to direct the project.  He also says the film is not yet greenlit but when they figure out some casting elements and the budget, “we’ll be able to announce what this movie is.”  Hit the jump for more.

A few months ago we reported screenwriter Damon Lindelof might not have the time to pen the Prometheus sequel for director Ridley Scott.  I can now confirm the news.  When I spoke to Lindelof last week at a Bad Robot event for the Star Trek sequel (more on that soon), he told me he wasn’t doing it.  He explained that after Prometheus got released, (Scott and Lindelof) had a meeting “where we started talking again about where this journey would go.”  Before Scott could ask him to write the script, he said he couldn’t do it due to other commitments.

For more on why Lindelof said no, hit the jump.

I try and heed the wise words of Conan O’Brien and resist the urge to be cynical. I really do. But while digging through our The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 coverage in anticipation of this week’s post I stumbled across this poster for the film and all of my best laid plans went to waste. There is just no excuse for a franchise of its stature to have a poster that terrible. I’m far from an expert in graphic design, but mercy…I re-read Adam’s original post several times hoping to find the sentence where he points out that the poster was the Grand Prize winner of Summit’s “Design the Worst Damn Movie Poster Possible” contest. Sadly, there was no mention of such a contest. This was real and it made my heart hurt.

All cynicism aside, in this week’s Top 5, The Twilight Saga comes to a merciful end with interviews and things of the like, Damon Lindelof‘s draft of the Prometheus script becomes available for your reading pleasure, news regarding the debuts of Star Trek Into Darkness‘ first trailer and first 9 minutes of the film surfaces, a handful of images and a video from the set of Thor: The Dark World make their way onto the Interwebs, and believe it or not, more news regarding Star Wars: Episode VII gets discussed. I trust you know where to find a brief recap and link to each.

No matter what you thought about Ridley Scott‘s Prometheus (I thought it was great), it’s amazing that people are still talking about it.  I say this because in our culture of always moving onto the next thing once something’s come out, I love that people are still discussing the ideas and mythology, and what they’d like to see in a sequel (which I hear is definitely moving forward).

As most of you know, Prometheus was penned by two screenwriters: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, in addition to the original conception of the franchise elements from Ronald Shusett and the late Dan O’Bannon.  After a number of drafts by Spaihts, Lindelof was brought in to balance the story and to expand on character relationships and mythology, but to leave the characters and the narrative structure in place.  Continued after the jump.

Love it or hate it, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus certainly got people talking. The “prequel” with “Alien DNA” was penned by two screenwriters: Jon Spaihts (The Darkest Hour) and Damon Lindelof (Cowboys & Aliens), in addition to the original conception of the franchise elements from Ronald Shusett and the late Dan O’Bannon.  After five drafts by Spaihts, Lindelof was brought in to balance the story and to expand on character relationships and mythology, but to leave the characters and the narrative structure in place. What resulted was a bit of a mess, in my opinion. But now, Spaihts’ original script, titled Alien: Engineers, is available for the readin’! Hit the jump to see where you can find it and for a summary of some of the major changes that occurred from script to screen.

George Clooney (Ocean’s Eleven) is reportedly in talks to star in Disney’s 1952, an extraterrestrial pic in the vein of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Written by Damon Lindelof (Star Trek) and  Jeff Jensen, 1952 will be directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles).  Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the picture is said to center on the journey of a middle-aged man and his contact with alien life.  We previously reported that the title is a reference to a banker’s box of files and documents that had been left in Walt Disney’s personal development lab.  The contents of the box were documents and primary source materials that look like someone had been working on a project about alien contact.  Additionally, “1952″ could refer to the appearance of seven UFOs on radar at Washington’s National Airport.  Hit the jump for more, including how this affects Bird’s schedule and chances to direct Star Wars: Episode VII.