"Question: Are you doing the sequel for Journey to the Center of the Earth next?

Brad: Yeah, I’m in prep right now.

Can you give us an update on how that’s going?

Brad: I think it’s going to be good. The thing, for me, was the script. I read the script and didn’t know if Brendan [Fraser] was going to be involved or not, but the script is phenomenal. It’s going to be a really, really good story. It reminded me of the first Indiana Jones, so I got really excited ‘cause that’s one of the movies I grew up on. I’m very, very excited by it.

Is there a new adult character, with Brendan Fraser being gone, or is it just the kids now?

Brad: The only one that I can confirm is that the movie is going to be based around Josh [Hutcherson], as a 17-year-old. In the first one, he was a little kid. Now he feels like, “I didn’t get credit for that. I was just along for the ride. But, now I want mine.” And, we try to bring it back to what I related to when I was 17. I just wanted to get the hell out of home and go do my own thing. We’re building a great story around that kind of idea.

Will some of the favorite creatures be back?

Brad: They will be similar in tone, but it changes a little bit because it’s Mysterious Island. It’s not going to be identical to it. There is a similar vibe to the ideas, but not the exact same ones.

So, Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island is the source material for this one?

Brad: Yeah. Well, it’s just taking from Verne. One of the things that excited me was that, before speculative fiction came out, science fiction had this H.G. Wells, Vernian slant. That science fiction came from another world was H.G. Wells, and Verne was that science fiction came from our own world. So, when I read the script and I talked to the producers, I was like, “This is a really great idea. This, to me, is the brand. We should look at Verne as the source material, and his approach to everything.”

That guy has written encyclopedia entries on the coastline of France. He mapped half of the coastline of France. So, it’s about finding all this great stuff in our world. Part of it is, “How can we get kids stoked on what’s real? How can I make what’s real so fantastic that they love that?” I think that’s what Verne was doing. When you read The Mysterious Island, the stuff is so real that, if you crash on an island, he’s telling you how to survive. The guy’s a great writer.

Is the sequel going to be more above ground, this time?

Brad: Yeah. It’s not at the center of the earth. Mysterious Island is a set. That’s where the majority of the thing takes place.

Does that make it more gritty and realistic?

Brad: Maybe, a little bit. My approach is going to be different for it.

Do you bring Captain Nemo into it at all?

Brad: You’ll have to see. I’m going to say maybe."

"High School Musical actress Vanessa Hudgens has joined the cast of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the sequel to 2008’s 3D event movie Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Josh Hutcherson, one of the stars of the original, and Dwayne Johnson, who replaced Brendan Fraser, will venture to a “mythical and monstrous island” in search of the teen’s grandfather, played by Michael Caine. There they encounter perils, pirates, and possibly Captain Nemo, if the book by Jules Verne serves as a reliable blueprint.

Heat Vision reports Hudgens will play a Pacific Islander swept up in the adventure and a love interest for Hutcherson. She beat out potential candidates Miranda Cosgrove, Selena Gomez, and Demi Lovato.

Shooting starts later this month in Hawaii, then North Carolina for an unknown release date. Brad Peyton (Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore) is directing."