2012 (film)
Encyclopedia
2012 is a 2009 American disaster film
directed by Roland Emmerich
. It stars John Cusack
, Chiwetel Ejiofor
, Amanda Peet
, Oliver Platt
, Thandie Newton
, Danny Glover
, and Woody Harrelson
. It was produced by Emmerich
's production company, Centropolis Entertainment
and was distributed by Columbia Pictures
. Filming began in August 2008 in Vancouver
, although it was originally planned to be filmed in Los Angeles
.
The plot follows Jackson Curtis (John Cusack
) as he attempts to bring his children, Noah and Lilly (Liam James
and Morgan Lily
respectively), ex-wife Kate Curtis (Amanda Peet
) and her boyfriend, Gordon Silberman (Thomas McCarthy) to refuge and attempt to escape the heightened change in the elements. The film includes references to Mayanism
, the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar
and the 2012 phenomenon
in its portrayal of cataclysmic events unfolding in the year 2012. Emmerich has announced that the film will be his last involving disasters.
After a prolonged marketing campaign comprising the creation of a website from the point of view of the main character, Jackson Curtis, and a viral marketing
website on which filmgoers could register for a lottery number to save them from the ensuing disaster, the film was internationally released on 13 November 2009. It received generally mixed to negative reviews from critics and its worldwide theatrical revenue reached approximately $769 million.
), an American geologist
, visits astrophysicist Dr. Satnam Tsurutani (Jimi Mistry
) in India and learns that neutrino
s from a massive solar flare
are causing the temperature of the Earth's core to increase. Adrian gives a report on this to White House Chief of Staff
Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt
) who ends up taking Adrian to meet the President of the United States
.
In 2010, President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover
) and other international leaders begin a secret project to ensure humanity's survival. Approximately 400,000 people are chosen to board "arks" that are constructed at Cho Ming, Tibet, China, in the Himalayas
. At the same time, as the People's Liberation Army
are gathering volunteers, a Buddhist
monk named Nima (Osric Chau
) is evacuated while his brother Tenzin (Chin Han
) joins the workers in the Ark project. Additional funding for the project is raised by selling tickets to the private sector for €
1 billion per person. By 2011, humanity's valuable treasures are moved to the Himalayas under the guise of protecting them from terrorist attacks with the help of art expert and First Daughter
Dr. Laura Wilson (Thandie Newton
).
In 2012, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack
) is a science fiction writer in Los Angeles
who works part-time as a limousine driver for a Russia
n billionaire, Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Burić
). Jackson's ex-wife, Kate (Amanda Peet
), and their children Noah (Liam James
) and Lilly (Morgan Lily
), live with Kate's boyfriend, plastic surgeon Gordon Silberman (Thomas McCarthy).
Jackson takes Noah and Lilly camping in Yellowstone National Park
. After an encounter with Helmsley, they meet Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson
), who hosts a radio show from the park. Charlie plays a video of Charles Hapgood
's theory that polar shifts and the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar
predict that the 2012 phenomenon
will occur. He has a map of the Ark project, in addition to information about officials and scientists from around the world who were murdered after planning to alert the public. The family returns home as seismic activity vastly increases along the west coast of the United States
. Jackson grows suspicious and rents a plane to rescue his family. He collects his family and Gordon as the displacement of Earth's crust begins, and they narrowly escape Los Angeles as the city disintegrates and slides into the Pacific Ocean
.
As millions die in catastrophic earthquakes worldwide, the group flies to Yellowstone to retrieve Charlie's map, escaping as the Yellowstone Caldera
erupts. Charlie stays behind to broadcast the eruption and is killed in the blast, which is expected to spread enormous, deadly dust storms throughout the surrounding states. Learning that the arks are in China
, the group lands in Las Vegas
to find a larger plane. They meet Yuri, his twin sons Alec and Oleg (played by Alexandre and Philippe Haussmann), girlfriend Tamara (Beatrice Rosen
), and pilot Sasha (Johann Urb
). The group secures an Antonov 500 aircraft and departs for China. Also heading for the arks aboard Air Force One
are Anheuser, Helmsley, and Laura Wilson. President Wilson remains in Washington, D.C.
to address the nation one last time. With the Vice President
dead and the Speaker of the House
missing, Anheuser becomes the acting commander-in-chief. President Wilson is later killed by a megatsunami
that sends the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy
crashing into the White House
.
Arriving in China in a crash landing
that kills Sasha, the group is spotted by the People's Liberation Army
. Yuri and his sons, possessing tickets, are taken to the arks, leaving Tamara and the others behind. They are picked up by Nima and are taken to the arks with his grandparents (Lisa Lu
and Chang Tseng). They stow away on the ark with the help of Tenzin. As a megatsunami approaches the site, an impact driver
becomes lodged between the gears of the ark's Hydraulics Chamber, preventing a boarding gate from closing and rendering the ship unable to start its engines. In the ensuing chaos Yuri, Gordon and Tamara are killed, Tenzin is wounded, and the ark is set adrift. Jackson and Noah dislodge the impact driver and the crew regains control of the ark before it can impact Mount Everest
.
After flood waters from the tsunamis recede, the arks travel to the Cape of Good Hope
in South Africa
where the Drakensberg
Mountains have risen in relation to sea level and become the tallest mountains in the world. Jackson is rejoined with his family, and Helmsley starts a relationship with Laura. The final scene shows that Africa and some land masses remain above sea level.
by author Graham Hancock
as inspiration for the film, and in an interview with the London magazine Time Out Emmerich states: "I always wanted to do a biblical flood movie, but I never felt I had the hook. I first read about the Earth's Crust Displacement Theory in Graham Hancock
's Fingerprints of the Gods."
Director Emmerich and composer-producer Harald Kloser
had an extremely close relationship and also co-wrote a spec script
entitled 2012, which was marketed to major studios in February 2008. Nearly all studios met with Emmerich and his representatives to hear the director's budget projection and story plans, a process that the director had previously gone through with the films Independence Day
(1996) and The Day After Tomorrow
(2004).
Later that month, Sony Pictures Entertainment
won the rights for the spec script
, planning to distribute it under Columbia Pictures
and was produced for less than budgeted. According to Emmerich, the film was eventually produced for about $200 million.
Filming was originally scheduled to begin in Los Angeles
, California
, in July 2008 but instead commenced in Kamloops, Savona
, Cache Creek
and Ashcroft in British Columbia, Canada
. Due to the possible 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike
, filmmakers set up a contingency plan for salvaging the film.
Uncharted Territory
, Digital Domain
, Double Negative
, Scanline
, Sony Pictures Imageworks
and others were hired to create computer animated visual effects for 2012.
Although the film depicts the destruction of several major cultural and historical icons around the world, Emmerich stated that the Kaaba
was also considered for selection. Kloser opposed the idea out of fear that a fatwā
might be issued against him.
, blog updates
and radio broadcasts
from the apocalyptic zealot
Charlie Frost on his website This Is The End.
On November 12, 2008, the new studio released the first teaser trailer for 2012 that showed a tsunami
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. The trailer ended with a message to viewers to "find out the truth" by searching "2012" on search engines. The Guardian
criticized the marketing effectiveness as "deeply flawed" and associated it with "websites that make even more spurious claims about 2012".
The studio also launched a viral marketing
website operated by the fictional Institute for Human Continuity, where filmgoers could register for a lottery number to be part of a small population that would be rescued from the global destruction. David Morrison of NASA
received over 1000 inquiries from people who thought the website was genuine, and condemned it. "I've even had cases of teenagers writing to me saying they are contemplating suicide because they don't want to see the world end," he said. "I think when you lie on the internet and scare children to make a buck, that is ethically wrong." Another viral marketing website promotes Farewell Atlantis, a fictional suspense novel by the film's lead protagonist, about the events of 2012.
Comcast
had also organized a "roadblock campaign" to promote the film, where a two-minute scene from the film was broadcast across 450 American commercial television networks, local English and Spanish language stations, and 89 cable outlets within a ten-minute window between 10:50 PM EDT/PDT and 11:00 PM EDT/PDT on October 1, 2009. The scene featured the destruction of Los Angeles and ended with a cliffhanger, with the entire 5-minute-38-second clip made available on Comcast's Fancast web site. The trade newspaper Variety
estimated that, "The stunt will put the footage in front of 90% of all households watching ad-supported TV, or nearly 110 million viewers. When combined with online and mobile streams, that could increase to more than 140 million".
and Thomas Wander. Singer Adam Lambert
contributed a song for the film titled "Time for Miracles
" and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity in an interview with MTV
.
The film's soundtrack consists of 24 tracks, and it includes the songs "Fades Like a Photograph" by Filter
and "It Ain't the End of the World", performed by George Segal
and Blu Mankuma
, which were featured in the film. The trailer music was Master of Shadows by Two Steps From Hell
.
, Canada
, Denmark
, Mexico
, India
and the United States
, and was released on November 21, 2009 in Japan
.
The DVD
and Blu-ray for 2012 were released on March 2, 2010. The 2-Disc Blu-ray Edition includes over 90 minutes of special features, including Adam Lambert
's music video "Time for Miracles
", and a Digital Copy
for PSP
, PC
, Mac
& iPod
. The Europe
an release date of 2012 on DVD
was March 26, 2010; it includes the same special features as the North America
n version.
's second highest grossing film worldwide, behind Independence Day
. However, it surpassed Emmerich's previous disaster film The Day After Tomorrow
, which grossed $544.3 million worldwide. Worldwide on its opening weekend it made $230.5 million, marking the fourth-largest opening weekend worldwide for a 2009 film.
In North America, it grossed $65,237,614 on its first weekend, ranking number one and marking the 9th highest-grossing opening weekend for a film released in November. The film grossed $166,112,167 in total and earned $165.2 million overseas on its opening weekend marking the 7th largest opening weekend of all time. With $603,567,306 in total overseas earnings, just above the $600-million-mark, it marked the 4th highest-grossing 2009 film overseas. In Bulgaria
, it earned $285,273 on its opening weekend, which is the 6th largest in the country, and it earned $856,915 in total to become the 8th highest-grossing film of all time. In Greece
, it grossed $2,288,288 which is the second highest-grossing opening weekend of all time after 300
's opening with $3,087,500. In Malaysia, it made the second-largest opening weekend ($2,308,796) behind that of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
($2,546,774) and became the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. In Taiwan
, it grossed the largest two-day weekend of all time ($2,790,845) and, in total earnings, it is third on the all-time chart.
reports that 40% of 2012 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average
of 6.1 out of 10. Among the site's notable critics, 49% gave the film a positive write-up, based on a sample of 34. The site's consensus is that "Roland Emmerich's 2012 provides plenty of visual thrills, but lacks a strong enough script to support its massive scope and inflated length." Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 1–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 49 based on 34 reviews.
Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone criticized the film by comparing it to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
: "Beware 2012, which works the dubious miracle of almost matching Transformers 2 for sheer, cynical, mind-numbing, time-wasting, money-draining, soul-sucking stupidity." Roger Ebert
was enthusiastic about the film, giving it 3½ stars out of 4, saying it "delivers what it promises, and since no sentient being will buy a ticket expecting anything else, it will be, for its audiences, one of the most satisfactory films of the year".
Both Ebert and Claudia Puig of USA Today
called the film the "mother of all disaster movies".
has reportedly banned possession or viewing of the film. The year 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation's founder, Kim Il-sung
, and has been designated by the North Korean government as "the year for opening the grand gates to becoming a rising superpower". Thus, a movie which depicts the year in a negative light is found to be offensive by the North Korean government. Several people in North Korea have reportedly been arrested for possessing or viewing pirated copies of the movie and charged with "grave provocation against the development of the state."
announced that there was a plan for a spin-off television series entitled 2013 that would have served as a follow-up to the film. Executive producer of 2012, Mark Gordon
told EW that "ABC will have an opening in their disaster-related programming after Lost
ends, so people would be interested in this topic on a weekly basis. There's hope for the world despite the magnitude of the 2012 disaster as seen in the film. After the movie, there are some people who survive and the question is how will these survivors build a new world and what will it look like. That might make an interesting TV series."
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
directed by Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer.His films, most of which are Hollywood productions filmed in English, have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European director...
. It stars John Cusack
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetelu Umeadi "Chiwetel" Ejiofor, OBE is an English actor of stage and screen. He has received numerous acting awards and award nominations, including the 2006 BAFTA Awards Rising Star, three Golden Globe Awards' nominations, and the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his...
, Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
, Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt
Oliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
, Thandie Newton
Thandie Newton
Thandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
, Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
, and Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
. It was produced by Emmerich
Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer.His films, most of which are Hollywood productions filmed in English, have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European director...
's production company, Centropolis Entertainment
Centropolis Entertainment
Centropolis Entertainment is a film production company founded in 1985 as Centropolis Film Productions by German film director Roland Emmerich.-Films:-TV Series:...
and was distributed by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
. Filming began in August 2008 in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, although it was originally planned to be filmed in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
The plot follows Jackson Curtis (John Cusack
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
) as he attempts to bring his children, Noah and Lilly (Liam James
Liam James
Liam James is a Canadian child actor. He is best known for his role as Noah Curtis in 2009 film 2012 and for portraying young Shawn Spencer on the USA Network TV series Psych....
and Morgan Lily
Morgan Lily
Morgan Lily is an American actress and fashion model. She started modeling internationally at four years old and appeared in more than 21 television commercials, and many photo shoots before her role in Henry Poole Is Here as Millie Stupek. Lily had supporting roles in He's Just Not That Into You,...
respectively), ex-wife Kate Curtis (Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
) and her boyfriend, Gordon Silberman (Thomas McCarthy) to refuge and attempt to escape the heightened change in the elements. The film includes references to Mayanism
Mayanism
Mayanism is a non-codified eclectic collection of New Age beliefs, influenced in part by Pre-Columbian Maya mythology and some folk beliefs of the modern Maya peoples...
, the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar
Mesoamerican Long Count calendar
The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, vigesimal and base-18 calendar used by several Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is sometimes known as the Maya Long Count calendar...
and the 2012 phenomenon
2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar...
in its portrayal of cataclysmic events unfolding in the year 2012. Emmerich has announced that the film will be his last involving disasters.
After a prolonged marketing campaign comprising the creation of a website from the point of view of the main character, Jackson Curtis, and a viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
website on which filmgoers could register for a lottery number to save them from the ensuing disaster, the film was internationally released on 13 November 2009. It received generally mixed to negative reviews from critics and its worldwide theatrical revenue reached approximately $769 million.
Plot
In 2009, Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel EjioforChiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetelu Umeadi "Chiwetel" Ejiofor, OBE is an English actor of stage and screen. He has received numerous acting awards and award nominations, including the 2006 BAFTA Awards Rising Star, three Golden Globe Awards' nominations, and the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his...
), an American geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, visits astrophysicist Dr. Satnam Tsurutani (Jimi Mistry
Jimi Mistry
-Early life:Mistry, was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England to an Indian Hindu father and an Irish Roman Catholic mother. He was brought up a Roman Catholic and attended St. James' Catholic High in Cheadle Hulme before his family moved to Cardiff where he attended Radyr Comprehensive School...
) in India and learns that neutrino
Neutrino
A neutrino is an electrically neutral, weakly interacting elementary subatomic particle with a half-integer spin, chirality and a disputed but small non-zero mass. It is able to pass through ordinary matter almost unaffected...
s from a massive solar flare
Solar flare
A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...
are causing the temperature of the Earth's core to increase. Adrian gives a report on this to White House Chief of Staff
White House Chief of Staff
The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt
Oliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
) who ends up taking Adrian to meet the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
In 2010, President Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
) and other international leaders begin a secret project to ensure humanity's survival. Approximately 400,000 people are chosen to board "arks" that are constructed at Cho Ming, Tibet, China, in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. At the same time, as the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
are gathering volunteers, a Buddhist
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
monk named Nima (Osric Chau
Osric Chau
Osric Chau is an actor from Vancouver, British Columbia. Amongst other roles in Cold Squad and a lead role in a Global TV docudrama, Chau co-starred with David Carradine and Daryl Hannah as "Lang Han" in Phillip Spink's Kung Fu Killer. Chau also had a role in Nickelodeon series "The Troop" and has...
) is evacuated while his brother Tenzin (Chin Han
Chin Han
Ng Chin Han , usually credited as just Chin Han, is a Singaporean actor of stage, film and television whose career has spanned over twenty years. He starred in Masters of the Sea, Singapore television's first foray into English-language drama. In recent years he broke into the Hollywood film...
) joins the workers in the Ark project. Additional funding for the project is raised by selling tickets to the private sector for €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
1 billion per person. By 2011, humanity's valuable treasures are moved to the Himalayas under the guise of protecting them from terrorist attacks with the help of art expert and First Daughter
First Family of the United States
The First Family of the United States is the unofficial title for the family of the President of the United States, who is both head of state and head of government of the United States. Members of the First Family consist of the President, the First Lady of the United States, and any of their...
Dr. Laura Wilson (Thandie Newton
Thandie Newton
Thandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
).
In 2012, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
) is a science fiction writer in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
who works part-time as a limousine driver for a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n billionaire, Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Burić
Zlatko buric
Zlatko Burić is a Croat-Danish actor. He was born in Osijek, Croatia , and educated at Dramski Studio in Osijek...
). Jackson's ex-wife, Kate (Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
), and their children Noah (Liam James
Liam James
Liam James is a Canadian child actor. He is best known for his role as Noah Curtis in 2009 film 2012 and for portraying young Shawn Spencer on the USA Network TV series Psych....
) and Lilly (Morgan Lily
Morgan Lily
Morgan Lily is an American actress and fashion model. She started modeling internationally at four years old and appeared in more than 21 television commercials, and many photo shoots before her role in Henry Poole Is Here as Millie Stupek. Lily had supporting roles in He's Just Not That Into You,...
), live with Kate's boyfriend, plastic surgeon Gordon Silberman (Thomas McCarthy).
Jackson takes Noah and Lilly camping in Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
. After an encounter with Helmsley, they meet Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
), who hosts a radio show from the park. Charlie plays a video of Charles Hapgood
Charles Hapgood
Charles Hutchins Hapgood was an American college professor and author who became one of the best known advocates of a pseudo-historical claim of a rapid and recent pole shift with catastrophic results.-Biography:...
's theory that polar shifts and the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar
Mesoamerican Long Count calendar
The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating, vigesimal and base-18 calendar used by several Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is sometimes known as the Maya Long Count calendar...
predict that the 2012 phenomenon
2012 phenomenon
The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21, 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar...
will occur. He has a map of the Ark project, in addition to information about officials and scientists from around the world who were murdered after planning to alert the public. The family returns home as seismic activity vastly increases along the west coast of the United States
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
. Jackson grows suspicious and rents a plane to rescue his family. He collects his family and Gordon as the displacement of Earth's crust begins, and they narrowly escape Los Angeles as the city disintegrates and slides into the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
As millions die in catastrophic earthquakes worldwide, the group flies to Yellowstone to retrieve Charlie's map, escaping as the Yellowstone Caldera
Yellowstone Caldera
The Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera located in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The caldera is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, in which the vast majority of the park is contained. The major features of...
erupts. Charlie stays behind to broadcast the eruption and is killed in the blast, which is expected to spread enormous, deadly dust storms throughout the surrounding states. Learning that the arks are in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the group lands in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
to find a larger plane. They meet Yuri, his twin sons Alec and Oleg (played by Alexandre and Philippe Haussmann), girlfriend Tamara (Beatrice Rosen
Beatrice Rosen
Beatrice Rosen is a French actress. She is also credited as Béatrice Rosen and Béatrice Rosenblatt.- Personal life :...
), and pilot Sasha (Johann Urb
Johann Urb
Johann Urb is an Estonian-American actor and former model.-Biography:Johann was born in Tallinn as a son of a musician Tarmo Urb. At the age of ten Johann moved to live in Finland with his mother and her new Finnish husband. Mostly they stayed in Tampere. When Johann turned 17, he moved to the ...
). The group secures an Antonov 500 aircraft and departs for China. Also heading for the arks aboard Air Force One
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...
are Anheuser, Helmsley, and Laura Wilson. President Wilson remains in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to address the nation one last time. With the Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
dead and the Speaker of the House
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
missing, Anheuser becomes the acting commander-in-chief. President Wilson is later killed by a megatsunami
Megatsunami
Megatsunami is an informal term to describe a tsunami that has initial wave heights that are much larger than normal tsunamis...
that sends the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy
USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67)
USS John F. Kennedy is a John F. Kennedy class aircraft carrier, the last conventionally powered carrier built for the United States Navy. The ship is named after the 35th President of the United States, John F...
crashing into the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
.
Arriving in China in a crash landing
Crash Landing
"Crash Landing" is the only single by Route 1. The single features ex-Atomic Kitten member, Jenny Frost. "Crash Landing" is commonly, yet mistakenly, referred to as a single by Jenny Frost featuring Route 1 because the CD cover features only her with her name in a larger font.-Charts:...
that kills Sasha, the group is spotted by the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
. Yuri and his sons, possessing tickets, are taken to the arks, leaving Tamara and the others behind. They are picked up by Nima and are taken to the arks with his grandparents (Lisa Lu
Lisa Lu
Lisa Lu is a Chinese-American actress and documentary producer.-Life and career:Lu was born in Peking, China . Beginning in her teens, she was active in Chinese opera, or Kunqu, before emigrating to the United States...
and Chang Tseng). They stow away on the ark with the help of Tenzin. As a megatsunami approaches the site, an impact driver
Impact driver
An impact driver is a tool that delivers a strong, sudden rotational and downward force. In conjunction with toughened screwdriver bits and socket sets, they are often used by mechanics to loosen larger screws and nuts that are corrosively "frozen" or over-torqued...
becomes lodged between the gears of the ark's Hydraulics Chamber, preventing a boarding gate from closing and rendering the ship unable to start its engines. In the ensuing chaos Yuri, Gordon and Tamara are killed, Tenzin is wounded, and the ark is set adrift. Jackson and Noah dislodge the impact driver and the crew regains control of the ark before it can impact Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
.
After flood waters from the tsunamis recede, the arks travel to the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
where the Drakensberg
Drakensberg
The Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba , and in Sesotho as Maluti...
Mountains have risen in relation to sea level and become the tallest mountains in the world. Jackson is rejoined with his family, and Helmsley starts a relationship with Laura. The final scene shows that Africa and some land masses remain above sea level.
Cast
- John CusackJohn CusackJohn Paul Cusack is an American film actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in more than 50 films, including The Journey of Natty Gann, Say Anything..., Grosse Point Blank, The Thin Red Line, Stand by Me, Con Air, Being John Malkovich, High Fidelity, Serendipity, Runaway Jury, The Ice Harvest,...
as Jackson Curtis, a struggling writer who has to work as a limousine driver to make ends meet. - Chiwetel EjioforChiwetel EjioforChiwetelu Umeadi "Chiwetel" Ejiofor, OBE is an English actor of stage and screen. He has received numerous acting awards and award nominations, including the 2006 BAFTA Awards Rising Star, three Golden Globe Awards' nominations, and the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his...
as Dr. Adrian Helmsley, geologist and scientific advisor to the US President. He is also a fan of Curtis' work. - Amanda PeetAmanda PeetAmanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
as Kate Curtis, a medical student and Jackson's ex-wife. - Liam JamesLiam JamesLiam James is a Canadian child actor. He is best known for his role as Noah Curtis in 2009 film 2012 and for portraying young Shawn Spencer on the USA Network TV series Psych....
as Noah Curtis, Jackson and Kate's son. - Morgan LilyMorgan LilyMorgan Lily is an American actress and fashion model. She started modeling internationally at four years old and appeared in more than 21 television commercials, and many photo shoots before her role in Henry Poole Is Here as Millie Stupek. Lily had supporting roles in He's Just Not That Into You,...
as Lilly Curtis, Jackson and Kate's daughter. - Thomas McCarthyThomas McCarthy (actor)Thomas Joseph McCarthy is an American actor, writer, and film director who has appeared in several movies, including Meet the Parents and Good Night, and Good Luck, and television shows such as The Wire, Boston Public, Law & Order, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of Saint Maybe...
as Dr. Gordon Silberman, Kate's current boyfriend, a plastic surgeon. - Danny GloverDanny GloverDanny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...
as Thomas Wilson, the President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. - Thandie NewtonThandie NewtonThandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
as Dr. Laura Wilson, art expert and President Wilson's daughter. - Oliver PlattOliver PlattOliver James Platt is a Canadian-American actor. He is currently starring in the Showtime original series, The Big C with Laura Linney.-Early life:...
as Carl Anheuser, the President's Chief of StaffWhite House Chief of StaffThe White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
. - Zlatko BurićZlatko buricZlatko Burić is a Croat-Danish actor. He was born in Osijek, Croatia , and educated at Dramski Studio in Osijek...
as Yuri Karpov, a Russian billionaire. - Beatrice RosenBeatrice RosenBeatrice Rosen is a French actress. She is also credited as Béatrice Rosen and Béatrice Rosenblatt.- Personal life :...
as Tamara, Yuri's Russian girlfriend. - Alexandre and Philippe Haussmann as Alec and Oleg Karpov, Yuri's twin sons.
- Woody HarrelsonWoody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
as Charlie Frost, a fringe scienceFringe scienceFringe science is scientific inquiry in an established field of study that departs significantly from mainstream or orthodox theories, and is classified in the "fringes" of a credible mainstream academic discipline....
conspiracy theoristConspiracy theoryA conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
and radio talk show host. - Chin HanChin HanNg Chin Han , usually credited as just Chin Han, is a Singaporean actor of stage, film and television whose career has spanned over twenty years. He starred in Masters of the Sea, Singapore television's first foray into English-language drama. In recent years he broke into the Hollywood film...
as Tenzin, a worker in TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
. - Osric ChauOsric ChauOsric Chau is an actor from Vancouver, British Columbia. Amongst other roles in Cold Squad and a lead role in a Global TV docudrama, Chau co-starred with David Carradine and Daryl Hannah as "Lang Han" in Phillip Spink's Kung Fu Killer. Chau also had a role in Nickelodeon series "The Troop" and has...
as Nima, a Buddhist monk and Tenzin's brother. - John BillingsleyJohn BillingsleyJohn Billingsley is an American actor, known for his role as Doctor Phlox on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.-Career:...
as Professor Frederic West, an American scientist. - Ryan McDonaldRyan McDonaldRyan James McDonald is a Canadian actor born 5 August 1984 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. He is sometimes mistakenly credited as Ryan MacDonald.-Filmography:* "The Ballad of Jack and Rose" * "Terry"...
as Scotty, Dr. Helmsley's assistant. - Johann UrbJohann UrbJohann Urb is an Estonian-American actor and former model.-Biography:Johann was born in Tallinn as a son of a musician Tarmo Urb. At the age of ten Johann moved to live in Finland with his mother and her new Finnish husband. Mostly they stayed in Tampere. When Johann turned 17, he moved to the ...
as Sasha, a Russian pilot and Tamara's lover. - Blu MankumaBlu MankumaBlu Mankuma is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous Canadian and American productions filmed in Canada.Mankuma was born in Seattle, Washington...
as Harry Helmsley, Adrian's father and Tony's music partner. - George SegalGeorge SegalGeorge Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
as Tony Delgatto, an elderly traveling musician and Harry's music partner. - Jimi MistryJimi Mistry-Early life:Mistry, was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England to an Indian Hindu father and an Irish Roman Catholic mother. He was brought up a Roman Catholic and attended St. James' Catholic High in Cheadle Hulme before his family moved to Cardiff where he attended Radyr Comprehensive School...
as Dr. Satnam Tsurutani, an Indian scientist who discovers the events causing the catastrophe. - Stephen McHattieStephen McHattieStephen McHattie is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:McHattie was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia....
as Captain Michaels, the captain of the ark that Jackson and his family stowawayStowawayA stowaway is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as an aircraft, bus, ship, cargo truck or train, to travel without paying and without being detected....
on. - Henry OHenry OHenry O is a Chinese American actor. He is the father of Ji-li Jiang, the author of Red Scarf Girl.-Biography:Raised in China , O was brought up in English and American missionary schools. He worked in the Children’s Art Theater as an actor and later as the deputy art director/actor for thirty years...
as Lama Rinpoche
Production
The credits cite the bestselling book Fingerprints of the GodsFingerprints of the Gods
Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization is a book first published in 1995 by Graham Hancock, in which he echoes nineteenth century writer Ignatius Donnelly, author of Atlantis: The Antediluvian World , in contending that some previously enigmatic ancient but...
by author Graham Hancock
Graham Hancock
Graham Hancock is a British writer and journalist. Hancock specialises in unconventional theories involving ancient civilizations, stone monuments or megaliths, altered states of consciousness, ancient myths and astronomical/astrological data from the past...
as inspiration for the film, and in an interview with the London magazine Time Out Emmerich states: "I always wanted to do a biblical flood movie, but I never felt I had the hook. I first read about the Earth's Crust Displacement Theory in Graham Hancock
Graham Hancock
Graham Hancock is a British writer and journalist. Hancock specialises in unconventional theories involving ancient civilizations, stone monuments or megaliths, altered states of consciousness, ancient myths and astronomical/astrological data from the past...
's Fingerprints of the Gods."
Director Emmerich and composer-producer Harald Kloser
Harald Kloser
Harald Kloser is an Austrian-born film composer and writer who has won the BMI Film Music Award in 2005 for both of his scores of Alien vs...
had an extremely close relationship and also co-wrote a spec script
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
entitled 2012, which was marketed to major studios in February 2008. Nearly all studios met with Emmerich and his representatives to hear the director's budget projection and story plans, a process that the director had previously gone through with the films Independence Day
Independence Day (film)
Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same...
(1996) and The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American science-fiction disaster film that depicts the catastrophic effects of global warming in a series of extreme weather events that usher in global cooling which leads to a new ice age. The film did well at the box office, grossing $542,771,772 internationally...
(2004).
Later that month, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
won the rights for the spec script
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
, planning to distribute it under Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
and was produced for less than budgeted. According to Emmerich, the film was eventually produced for about $200 million.
Filming was originally scheduled to begin in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in July 2008 but instead commenced in Kamloops, Savona
Savona, British Columbia
Savona is a small community located at the west end of Kamloops Lake, where the Thompson River exits it. It is approximately halfway between Kamloops and Cache Creek along the Trans-Canada Highway...
, Cache Creek
Cache Creek, British Columbia
Cache Creek is a junction community northeast of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is on the Trans-Canada Highway in the province of British Columbia at its junction with northbound Highway 97...
and Ashcroft in British Columbia, Canada
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Due to the possible 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike
2008 Screen Actors Guild strike
The Screen Actors Guild labor dispute of 2008-2009 is an ongoing labor dispute that could lead to a strike by the Screen Actors Guild, the American labor union representing actors in the film industry...
, filmmakers set up a contingency plan for salvaging the film.
Uncharted Territory
Uncharted Territory, LLC
Uncharted Territory, LLC is a film production company based in Los Angeles, California. UT was founded in 1999 by academy award winning visual effects supervisor and producer Volker Engel and Emmy award winning VFX supervisor and producer Marc Weigert...
, Digital Domain
Digital Domain
Digital Domain is a visual effects and animation company founded by film director James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. It is based in Venice, Los Angeles, California...
, Double Negative
Double Negative (VFX)
Double Negative is a British full-service visual effects/computer animation company located in Soho, London. The company was set up in 1998 with a team of 30 staff and has since grown to over 900 staff, making it one of Europe's largest provider of visual effects for film.In 2009, Double Negative...
, Scanline
Scanline VFX
Scanline VFX is a visual effects company with offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver and Munich. The company is well known for its proprietary, in-house fluid effects software Flowline, which is used in various fluid effects like water and fire. Scanline was sole developer for Flowline, for which it...
, Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks, Inc. is a visual effects and character animation company headquartered in Culver City, California, USA. SPI is a division of Sony Pictures Digital Productions, which oversees the digital production and online entertainment assets of Sony Pictures Entertainment.The company...
and others were hired to create computer animated visual effects for 2012.
Although the film depicts the destruction of several major cultural and historical icons around the world, Emmerich stated that the Kaaba
Kaaba
The Kaaba is a cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham, or Ibraheem, in Arabic, and his son Ishmael, or Ismaeel, as said in Arabic, after he had settled in Arabia. The building has a mosque...
was also considered for selection. Kloser opposed the idea out of fear that a fatwā
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
might be issued against him.
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, and streaming mediaStreaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
, blog updates
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
and radio broadcasts
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
from the apocalyptic zealot
Zealotry
Zealotry was originally a political movement in 1st century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Iudaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy land by force of arms, most notably during the Great Jewish Revolt...
Charlie Frost on his website This Is The End.
On November 12, 2008, the new studio released the first teaser trailer for 2012 that showed a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
surging over the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
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. The trailer ended with a message to viewers to "find out the truth" by searching "2012" on search engines. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
criticized the marketing effectiveness as "deeply flawed" and associated it with "websites that make even more spurious claims about 2012".
The studio also launched a viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
website operated by the fictional Institute for Human Continuity, where filmgoers could register for a lottery number to be part of a small population that would be rescued from the global destruction. David Morrison of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
received over 1000 inquiries from people who thought the website was genuine, and condemned it. "I've even had cases of teenagers writing to me saying they are contemplating suicide because they don't want to see the world end," he said. "I think when you lie on the internet and scare children to make a buck, that is ethically wrong." Another viral marketing website promotes Farewell Atlantis, a fictional suspense novel by the film's lead protagonist, about the events of 2012.
Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
had also organized a "roadblock campaign" to promote the film, where a two-minute scene from the film was broadcast across 450 American commercial television networks, local English and Spanish language stations, and 89 cable outlets within a ten-minute window between 10:50 PM EDT/PDT and 11:00 PM EDT/PDT on October 1, 2009. The scene featured the destruction of Los Angeles and ended with a cliffhanger, with the entire 5-minute-38-second clip made available on Comcast's Fancast web site. The trade newspaper Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
estimated that, "The stunt will put the footage in front of 90% of all households watching ad-supported TV, or nearly 110 million viewers. When combined with online and mobile streams, that could increase to more than 140 million".
Soundtrack
The original score for the film was composed by Harald KloserHarald Kloser
Harald Kloser is an Austrian-born film composer and writer who has won the BMI Film Music Award in 2005 for both of his scores of Alien vs...
and Thomas Wander. Singer Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert is an American singer, songwriter, and actor from San Diego, California. In May 2009, he finished as the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol...
contributed a song for the film titled "Time for Miracles
Time for Miracles
"Time for Miracles" is Adam Lambert's second single. It was released on October 16, 2009 via Amazon.com. Although the song was his first since American Idol, it was not released as his official debut single. Instead, the title track to his album, For Your Entertainment, was released. The song is...
" and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity in an interview with MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
The film's soundtrack consists of 24 tracks, and it includes the songs "Fades Like a Photograph" by Filter
Filter (band)
Filter is a rock group formed in 1993 in Cleveland by singer Richard Patrick and guitarist/programmer Brian Liesegang. Filter has released five studio albums, the most recent being The Trouble with Angels, which was released on August 17, 2010....
and "It Ain't the End of the World", performed by George Segal
George Segal
George Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
and Blu Mankuma
Blu Mankuma
Blu Mankuma is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous Canadian and American productions filmed in Canada.Mankuma was born in Seattle, Washington...
, which were featured in the film. The trailer music was Master of Shadows by Two Steps From Hell
Two Steps From Hell
Two Steps From Hell is a production music company based in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Nick Phoenix and Thomas J. Bergersen, the company produces music for movie trailers and top ten classical albums on iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby....
.
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. According to the studio, the film could have been completed for the summer release date, but the date change would give more time to the production. The film was released on November 11, 2009. It was released on Friday November 13, 2009 in SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and was released on November 21, 2009 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray for 2012 were released on March 2, 2010. The 2-Disc Blu-ray Edition includes over 90 minutes of special features, including Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert is an American singer, songwriter, and actor from San Diego, California. In May 2009, he finished as the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol...
's music video "Time for Miracles
Time for Miracles
"Time for Miracles" is Adam Lambert's second single. It was released on October 16, 2009 via Amazon.com. Although the song was his first since American Idol, it was not released as his official debut single. Instead, the title track to his album, For Your Entertainment, was released. The song is...
", and a Digital Copy
Digital copy
Digital Copy provides consumers who purchase a film on DVD or Blu-ray Disc with an additional, digital copy of the movie for devices capable of operating with a file in contrast to a DVD.-Features:...
for PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, Mac
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
& iPod
IPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
. The Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an release date of 2012 on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
was March 26, 2010; it includes the same special features as the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n version.
Box office
2012 earned $166,112,167 in the USA and Canada and $603,567,306 in other territories for a worldwide total of $769,679,473. It is the 5th highest-grossing film of 2009 worldwide and the 38th highest grossing film of all time worldwide. It is EmmerichRoland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer.His films, most of which are Hollywood productions filmed in English, have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European director...
's second highest grossing film worldwide, behind Independence Day
Independence Day (film)
Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same...
. However, it surpassed Emmerich's previous disaster film The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American science-fiction disaster film that depicts the catastrophic effects of global warming in a series of extreme weather events that usher in global cooling which leads to a new ice age. The film did well at the box office, grossing $542,771,772 internationally...
, which grossed $544.3 million worldwide. Worldwide on its opening weekend it made $230.5 million, marking the fourth-largest opening weekend worldwide for a 2009 film.
In North America, it grossed $65,237,614 on its first weekend, ranking number one and marking the 9th highest-grossing opening weekend for a film released in November. The film grossed $166,112,167 in total and earned $165.2 million overseas on its opening weekend marking the 7th largest opening weekend of all time. With $603,567,306 in total overseas earnings, just above the $600-million-mark, it marked the 4th highest-grossing 2009 film overseas. In Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, it earned $285,273 on its opening weekend, which is the 6th largest in the country, and it earned $856,915 in total to become the 8th highest-grossing film of all time. In Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, it grossed $2,288,288 which is the second highest-grossing opening weekend of all time after 300
300 (film)
300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
's opening with $3,087,500. In Malaysia, it made the second-largest opening weekend ($2,308,796) behind that of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
($2,546,774) and became the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. In Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, it grossed the largest two-day weekend of all time ($2,790,845) and, in total earnings, it is third on the all-time chart.
Critical response
The film received generally mixed reviews from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 40% of 2012 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average
Average
In mathematics, an average, or central tendency of a data set is a measure of the "middle" value of the data set. Average is one form of central tendency. Not all central tendencies should be considered definitions of average....
of 6.1 out of 10. Among the site's notable critics, 49% gave the film a positive write-up, based on a sample of 34. The site's consensus is that "Roland Emmerich's 2012 provides plenty of visual thrills, but lacks a strong enough script to support its massive scope and inflated length." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average score out of 1–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 49 based on 34 reviews.
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone criticized the film by comparing it to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a 2009 American science fiction-action film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers and the second installment in the live-action Transformers series...
: "Beware 2012, which works the dubious miracle of almost matching Transformers 2 for sheer, cynical, mind-numbing, time-wasting, money-draining, soul-sucking stupidity." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
was enthusiastic about the film, giving it 3½ stars out of 4, saying it "delivers what it promises, and since no sentient being will buy a ticket expecting anything else, it will be, for its audiences, one of the most satisfactory films of the year".
Both Ebert and Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
called the film the "mother of all disaster movies".
Accolades
| Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards The Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, commonly called the Critics' Choice Awards, are bestowed annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Nominees are selected by written ballots in a week-long voting period, and are announced in... |
Best Visual Effects | — | |
| Image Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture | Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetelu Umeadi "Chiwetel" Ejiofor, OBE is an English actor of stage and screen. He has received numerous acting awards and award nominations, including the 2006 BAFTA Awards Rising Star, three Golden Globe Awards' nominations, and the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his... |
|
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture | Danny Glover Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:... |
||
| Motion Picture Sound Editors Motion Picture Sound Editors Founded in 1953, Motion Picture Sound Editors is an honorary society of motion picture sound editors. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit of the soundtracks, and improve the professional relationship of its... |
Best Sound Editing - Music in a Feature Film | Fernand Bos, Ronald J. Webb | |
| Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film | — | ||
| Satellite Awards Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Best Sound (Mixing and Editing) Satellite Award for Best Sound - 1990s :- 2000s :... |
Paul N.J. Ottosson, Michael McGee, Rick Kline, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Michael Keller | |
| Best Visual Effects Satellite Award for Best Visual Effects The Satellite Award for Best Visual Effects is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :... |
Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Mike Vézina | ||
| Best Art Direction and Production Design Satellite Award for Best Art Direction and Production Design The Satellite Award for Best Art Direction is one the annual awards given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :Best Art Direction:*1996: Romeo + Juliet**The English Patient**Evita**Hamlet... |
Barry Chusid, Elizabeth Wilcox | ||
| Best Film Editing Satellite Award for Best Editing The Satellite Award for Best Editing is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.- Winners and nominees :The following listing is based on the web postings of the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :... |
David Brenner, Peter S. Elliot | ||
| Saturn Awards | Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film:... |
— | |
| Best Special Effects Saturn Award for Best Special Effects The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Special Effects:... |
Volker Engel, Marc Weigert Marc Weigert Marc Weigert is a film producer and film/TV visual effects artist.-Early career:Weigert was born in Bad Harzburg, Germany. While in Christian-von-Dohm-Gymnasium, a grammar school in Goslar, Germany, he developed an interest in filmmaking. He moved on to study directing and producing from 1991-1994... , Mike Vézina |
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North Korean ban
North KoreaNorth Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
has reportedly banned possession or viewing of the film. The year 2012 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation's founder, Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...
, and has been designated by the North Korean government as "the year for opening the grand gates to becoming a rising superpower". Thus, a movie which depicts the year in a negative light is found to be offensive by the North Korean government. Several people in North Korea have reportedly been arrested for possessing or viewing pirated copies of the movie and charged with "grave provocation against the development of the state."
Television spin-off
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
announced that there was a plan for a spin-off television series entitled 2013 that would have served as a follow-up to the film. Executive producer of 2012, Mark Gordon
Mark Gordon
Mark Gordon is an American television and film producer.- Background :Gordon was born in Newport News, Virginia on October 10, 1956...
told EW that "ABC will have an opening in their disaster-related programming after Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
ends, so people would be interested in this topic on a weekly basis. There's hope for the world despite the magnitude of the 2012 disaster as seen in the film. After the movie, there are some people who survive and the question is how will these survivors build a new world and what will it look like. That might make an interesting TV series."