Roland Emmerich
Mark Gordon
Larry J. Franco
Peter S. Elliott
Thomas Wander
“ | 6 months ago, I was made aware of a situation so devastating, that, at first, I refused to believe it; but with some research from our finest scientists, it has been confirmed: the world, as we know it, will soon come to an end. | „ |
~ U.S. President Thomas Wilson |
2012 is a 2009 epic science fiction disaster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. The film stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, and Woody Harrelson. The film is based off of the 2012 phenomenon, a range of eschatological beliefs that the whole world as we know it would end on December 21st, 2012, which, in reality, never happened.
Premise[]
In Roland Emmerich's 2012, billions of inhabitants on Earth are unaware that the planet, itself, is coming to an end on December 21st, 2012. With the warnings of African-American scientist, Dr. Adrian Helmsley, the world's finest leaders begin secret preparation for all of humanity's survival. When the global cataclysm finally does occur, struggling writer, Jackson Curtis, tries to lead his family to safety, as the world starts falling apart.
Plot[]
2009[]
In 2009, African-American geologist, Adrian Helmsley, arrives at East India, to visit his old friend, Indian astrophysicist, Satnam Tsurutani. There, the latter showed the former that a brand-new type of neutrino from a solar flare is rapidly heating up the Earth's core, as it started 2 days prior to Dr. Helmsley's visit. So, fearing that this could all lead to a potential global catastrophe, Dr. Helmsley returned to America, just to interrupt a party held in Washington D.C., and alert his info to White House Chief of Staff, Carl Anheuser, who, having read said info, takes him to meet U.S. President Thomas Wilson.
2010-2011: Preparing the evacuation plan[]
1 year later, in 2010, Wilson attended the G8 Summit to inform the world leaders that, though he initially refused to believe Helmsley's info, at first, the world's other finest scientists confirmed that all life on Earth would soon come to an end, in two years time.
2012: The year the world ends[]
December 20th, 2012: The Day Before World's End[]
In 2012, California science-fiction book writer, Jackson Curtis, takes his kids, Noah and Lilly, to go camping from Los Angeles to Yellowstone National Park. Once they arrived there, they discovered that the Lake had been dried up and fenced off by the U.S. Army, who caught them and brought to Dr. Helmsley, who warns them that the entire area is unstable, and that they should leave. Later on, they meet radio personality and conspiracy theorist, Charlie Frost, who explains to Jackson about Charles Hapgood's theory on the Earth's crust displacement, the Mayan Calendar, predicting the end of the world to occur on December 21st of 2012, and that the planet's governments stop anyone attempting to warn the public, including a professor Jackson worked with on his science-fiction book, called Farewell, Atlantis!. Charlie then tells Jackson to get him and his kids out of Yellowstone, immediately.
Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Jackson's ex-wife, Kate, was having a talk with his new boyfriend, a plastic surgeon and amateur pilot, named Gordon Silberman, when, suddenly, a large earthquake crack reached into the supermarket they were in, splitting it in half. Luckily, nobody didn't get hurt.
More to be added...
December 21st, 2012: The End of the World, Begins![]
“ | Kate, it's not just California; it's the whole world, that's going down. | „ |
~ Jackson to Kate, after the Curtis Family and Gordon escaped the L.A. earthquake. |
The California Earthquake[]
The next morning, Jackson took the kids back from Yellowstone to Los Angeles, to drop them back in the Curtis Residence, for breakfast with Kate and Gordon; and he drives for work as a chauffeur in the city for Russian billionaire, Yuri Karpov, who secretly plans for the evacuation. At the Santa Monica Airport, he dropped off Karpov's twin sons, Alec and Oleg, who also warn of impending doom as they board a plane. Despite his initial skepticism of Charlie's warnings from last night, at first, Jackson heeded them after a noticing a small crack appear below his limo, as an indication that validates it. So, he rented a Cessna 340A plane, and quickly drove back to the Curtis Residence to save both his family and Gordon. While driving, Jackson tried to call Kate that California is "going down", but Kate hung up, a moment before a 10.9 earthquake started to strike all of the state, including the house and the rest of Los Angeles. Jackson arrived just in time to save everyone, anyway, and they reached the airport to get the Cessna airborne. They all then flew out of California, just as the entire collapsing state started to sink in the Pacific Ocean.
The Yellowstone Caldera Erupts![]
“ | The giant ash cloud, created by this super-volcano, will first envelop Vegas! And then, St. Louis! And then Chicago! And then, at long last, Washington D.C. will have its lights go out! | „ |
~ Charlie Frost just before the caldera erupted |
Around Mid-day, Curtis Family and Gordon flew Cessna all the way to Yellowstone and arrived in National Park, to retrieve the map from Charlie. Once everybody got off the plane, Jackson went into Charlie's camper to find him, only to realize he's not there; instead, he did hear him on the radio, and, with Lilly tagging along, he drove it to find him on the hills of Mount Bighorn.
Alternate ending[]
To be re-added with original text...
Cast[]
Main[]
- John Cusack as Jackson Curtis; the film's main protagonist who is both a struggling writer of a science-fiction book, called "Farewell, Atlantis!", as well the dad of two kids, Noah and Lilly.
- Chiwetel Ejiofor as Adrian Helmsley; the film's primary deuteragonist, who is an African-American geologist.
- Amanda Peet as Kate Curtis; the film's primary deuteragonist, who is both Jackson's ex-wife, who is also a medical student.
- Liam James as Noah Curtis; the film's secondary tritagonist, who is Jackson and Kate's son, and Lilly's brother.
- Morgan Lily as Lilly Curtis; the film's 3rd tritagonist, who is Jackson and Kate's son, and Lilly's brother.
List of Disasters[]
The disasters in the film include; Satnam Tsurutani, an astrophysicist who discovers the neutrinos tha
What Destroyed Cities[]
The supermarket was diveded into two.
Los Angeles Destroyed By Earthquake
Yellowstone Park Destroyed By Supervolcanos
Las Vegas Destroyed By Earthquake
Washington Destroyed Storm
Airport Destroyed By Tsunamis
Ark 4 sinked by mount evrest & tsunamis
Production[]
Filming[]
Filming was first scheduled to begin in Los Angeles, California, in July
List of Disasters[]
The disasters in the film include;
What Destroyed Cities[]
The supermarket was diveded into two.
Los Angeles Destroyed By Earthquake
Yellowstone Park Destroyed By Supervolcanos
Las Vegas Destroyed By Earthquake
Washington Destroyed Storm
Airport Destroyed By Tsunamis
Ark 4 sinked by mount evrest & tsunamis
Production[]
Filming[]
Filming was first scheduled to begin in Los Angeles, California, in July 2008 but instead commenced in Kamloops, Savona, Cache Creek and Ashcroft in British Columbia, Canada.
Marketing[]
The film was promoted in a marketing campaign by a fictional organization, the "Institute for Human Continuity"; this entailed a fictitious book written by Jackson Curtis entitled Farewell Atlantis,[6] and streaming media, blog updates and radio broadcasts from the apocalyptic zealot Charlie Frost on his website This Is The End.
In November 2008, the first trailer was released showing a mega-tsunami raging over the surging over the Himalayas and interlaced a purportedly scientific message suggesting that the world would end in 2012, and that the world's governments were not preparing its population for the event.
Two minute film clips were broadcast accross 450 American commercial television within a ten-minute window between 10:50 PM EDT/PDT and 11:00 PM EDT/PDT on October 1, 2009.
Soundtrack[]
For full article 2012 Soundtrack
Release[]
2012 was originally scheduled to be released on July 10, 2009. The release date was changed to November 2009 to move out of the busy summer schedule into a time frame that the studio considered to have more potential for financial success.
Reception[]
Box Office[]
2012 earned $166,112,167 in North America and $603,567,306 in other territories for a worldwide total of $769,679,473. Worldwide it is the 50th highest-grossing film, the fifth highest-grossing 2009 film and the fifth highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia, behind Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Skyfall. It is also the second highest grossing film directed by Emmerich, behind Independence Day. On its worldwide opening weekend it made $230.5 million, marking the fourth-largest opening of 2009 and the fourth-largest for Sony/Columbia.
Critical response[]
Critics gave 2012 mixed reviews, praising its special effects and tone but criticizing its length (158 minutes) and screenwriting.
Gallery[]
Trailers[]
Posters[]
Trivia[]
- The character Jackson Curtis is the real name of 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) backwards. Director Roland Emmerich is a big fan of rapper 50 Cent and wanted to name his lead character after him.
- This movie was banned in North Korea, because 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-Sung. Several people were arrested for watching pirated copies of the film.
- Some cinemas started the film at 20:12 (8:12 pm).
- Charlie Frost's animation about the end of the world heavily references the animated Internet meme, "The End of the World", which centers around the idea that humanity will kill itself as a whole before any natural disaster would ever have the time to destroy it.
- Gerard Butler was considered for Jackson Curtis. He turned it down because of scheduling conflicts.
- The film contains various references to the Biblical flood. For example, Jackson's son is named Noah, the cruise ship where Adrian's father Harry performs is called Genesis (the book in the Bible in which the account appears), and humanity is saved by the use of "arks". At one point animals are lifted aboard the arks.
Cities Destroyed[]
- Los Angeles=California=United States
- Las Vegas=California=United States
- Washington, DC=Columbia=United States