Director Brad Bird’s secretive project at Disney looks to have found its villain. Previously referred to as 1952, the possibly sci-fi project was co-written by Bird and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof and recently landed the new title of Tomorrowland. The plot has been kept firmly under wraps, but we know that George Clooney is the film’s star and the story has been described as being in the vein of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Now, as the film marches towards a production start-date later this year, Bird has settled on the actor to play his villain: House star Hugh Laurie. Hit the jump for more.

Per Heat Vision, Hugh Laurie has entered negotiations to play the villain in Tomorrowland. Further details regarding the role are unknown at this time, so Laurie could be playing anyone from a nefarious corporate-type to an evil alien. Bird and Lindelof have been adding fuel to the speculation fire surrounding the film since releasing a couple of curious images late last month. The project apparently began when Lindelof stumbled on a box of documents in Walt Disney’s personal development lab labeled “1952,” and the two subsequently shared images of the box’s contents online.

This role is a major get for Laurie, who has been weighing film and TV offers since his long-running Fox series House finally came to a close last May. He initially considered taking the baddie role in the RoboCop remake before subsequently taking himself out of the running, and most recently the actor entered negotiations to star in NBC’s action-adventure pilot Crossbones, in which he would play the pirate Blackbeard. Production on Tomorrowland will get underway later this year, after Clooney wraps his latest directorial effort Monuments Men. Disney will release Tomorrowland on December 19, 2014.