Tomorrowland is considered to be one of the most anticipated films coming out in 2015 - what with being the latest movie from director Brad Bird and starring the likes of George Clooney and Hugh Laurie - but the film isn't actually going to be going worldwide with that title. It turns out that the Disney movie is going to have to change its name when it arrives in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, as the name "Tomorrowland" has already been taken in those countries.
This news comes to us from the Belfast Telegraph, which says that the conflict Tomorrowland is facing is due to a musical festival that already has that name trademarked. Described as a "Belgian electronic dance event," the musical gatherings have been going on since 2005, which explains how they got a jump on nabbing the name. It has not yet been announced what the film will actually be called in the aforementioned three countries.
Weirdly, this action almost comes as retribution for past events. Thanks to the futuristic theme land that is a part of amusements parks around the world, Disney has owned the trademark to the name "Tomorrowland" in the United States going back to 1970 - and this fact prevented the European Tomorrowland music festival from using that title when it came over to the states.
Having had the chance to interview a trademark attorney, the newspaper adds that it still may be possible for Tomorrowland to keep its name in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium - but it would require an agreement between both sides to "co-exist." This isn't entirely out of the question given that re-branding can be a very costly action and Disney may want to try and avoid it, but Disney also may want to start work-shopping new titles that can be used to sell the adventure movie.
Weirdly enough, the Belfast Telegraph also notes that Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium aren't really the only countries where the name of the Disney film is getting a little tweaked: it's happening in the U.K. as well. While we here in America will be getting the film with the cut-and-dry name Tomorrowland, in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland it will be called Tomorrowland: A World Beyond. I'm not entirely sure exactly what that subtitle adds to the name, but it's there.
Only the second live-action film from director Brad Bird (after Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) and based on a script co-written by Bird and Damon Lindelof (Prometheus), Tomorrowland follows a young girl named Casey (Britt Robertson) as she teams up with a grizzled inventor named Frank (George Clooney) to travel to a land described as a place where nothing is impossible. Hugh Laurie, Kathryn Hahn, Tim McGraw, Keegan-Michael Key and Judy Greer co-star in the film, and given that it is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 22nd, hopefully we will be getting a new trailer soon that will hopefully give us a better understanding of exactly what the movie is about. For now, you can head over to Page Two to watch the trailer that was released this past fall.
