By: Russ Burlingame on November 3, 2012
A couple of days ago, ComicBook.com printed a fan theory that 1952, the big-budget, big-effects, big-everything upcoming science fiction film from writer Damon Lindelof and director Brad Bird, might secretly be the working title for Star Wars Episode VII. There was some compelling circumstantial evidence offered, which made it a fun theory if not necessarily instantly believable.
Then one of our readers, Jack Shephard, reached out to us with a photo taken from the Facebook page of Damon Lindelof’s assistant. That image, according to Shephard, shows Lindelof and his assistant at Lucasfilm in 2011, shortly before his 1952 deal with Disney was announced.
First Showing has since debunked the report, saying that they had a reliable source in a position to know who assures them that 1952 is indeed an original science fiction project coming from Disney, and not related to Star Wars.
Leaving aside the fact that Disney will apparently be spending upwards of $800 million to make at least four major science fiction movies in the next few years (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers 2, Star Wars Episode VII and 1952), our Mr. Shephard doesn’t actually believe what he read in the First Showing article.
In fact, he’s doubled down on his feeling that there’s something going on between Lindelof and Lucasfilm, and has a whole theory to support his claim, including a bit of research and a strong suspicion that Jeff Jenson has been brought in to consult on the film not because the script needs a polish from an Entertainment Weekly columnist, but because he’s a Star Wars fan of some repute and the studio may be looking to avoid a prequel trilogy-style meltdown among the fandom when the new movies start to be released.
All in all, Shephard’s clues are the kind of thing that seem pretty convincing if you’re already sold on the theory, or if you want to believe it, but maybe not if you’re not invested or not convinced. There’s a lot of the “check out all the Star Wars references Lindelof has made in the last couple of years” type of stuff–but of course, by that barometer the movie should go to Kevin Smith.
(That said, both Lindelof and Bird have been hitting the Star Wars/Disney jokes and references on Twitter pretty hard recently.)
Still, until production starts in earnest on either 1952 or Star Wars Episode VII, this is one of those theories that’s not likely to go away completely, so here’s some of what our reader has presented us as follow-up evidence.
Let my conspiracy theory continue…
So I was looking at this article debunking the rumor of Lindelof/Brad Bird on Star Wars 7. Checking out the timeline on this website…
…The photo I sent of Lindelof visiting Lucasfilm was posted on Facebook March 23, 2011. A month or so later Damon’s “1952” deal was announced… Coincidence? I think not.
Then I read that Jeff Jenson was brought on to work on the script with Brad Bird in 2012. Here’s the thing about Jenson… he’s a self proclaimed Star Wars aficionado… not too mention a LOST fan so him and Lindelof may know each other from Lost. And Jenson is not a working SCREENWRITER, so why hire him besides to protect the star wars fans interests?
See this for Jenson’s obsession with Star Wars…
And this for Jeff’s very vague collaboration on “1952“…
Why would Lindelof co-write a movie with an Entertainment Weekly columnist? Seriously? The only reason I can think of is because Jeff can protect the Star Wars fanboys’ interests as some sort of consultant as Lindelof writes his script…
Additionally, on July 25 2011 I pulled a photo off Lindelof’s assistant’s Facebook page of Lindelof from Comic Con where Lindelof appeared wearing a BOBA FETT mask…
Additionally, on on 7/24/11 she posted a photo with the caption “Look what just came in the mail”. The photo was of classic Return of the Jedi toys sent to her at work (clearly from Lucasfilm)…
Plus, deadline reported on 1952 in May 2012: “The intention is to get the film into production next year, after a long prep, with Lindelof producing.” http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/brad-bird-to-helm-damon-lindelofs-secret-shrouded-script-1952-for-disney/
I dunno. This Lucas visit makes sense to me. It was the moment he got hired to pen the next Star Wars Movie.
Plus consider this letter Lucas sent Lindelof as LOST was ending (found online) …
Congratulations on pulling off an amazing show. Don’t tell anyone … but when ‘Star Wars’ first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories — let’s call them homages — and you’ve got a series.
In six seasons, you’ve managed to span both time and space, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I never saw what was around the corner. Now that it’s all coming to an end, it’s impressive to see how much was planned out in advance and how neatly you’ve wrapped up everything. You’ve created something really special. I’m sad that the series is ending, but I look forward to seeing what you two are going to do next.
