As the secrecy and the theories about what it will actually feature continue to swirl, work goes on to set to Brad Bird’s top-secret new Disney project Tomorrowland. We already know George Clooney is playing the lead, but he apparently needs a villain to go up against and Bird has set its sights on Hugh Laurie.

Originally codenamed 1952 and rumoured to be about UFO activity in the style of Close Encounters, Tomorrowland remains largely under wraps as Bird and writers Damon Lindelof and Jeff Jensen stay coy.

Right now, we don’t know whom Clooney is playing, and Laurie’s character is simply listed in the Hollywood Reporter’s story as the antagonist. Bird is in pre-production for the film, and is set to kick off making it next month for a December 2014 release across the pond.

Laurie, who got used to squeezing film gigs into his limited downtime from mocking patients and co-workers as the title character on House, now has more time to find bigger roles. He’s shot Andrew Adamson’s Mr Pip and his voice will be heard in a new take on The Canterville Ghost. He was also up for a villainous role in the RoboCop remake, but dropped out, to be replaced Michael Keaton.