2012 (film)

2012 is a 2009 American science fiction disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich. It was produced by Harald Kloser, Mark Gordon, and Larry J. Franco, and written by Kloser and Emmerich. The film stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, and Woody Harrelson. The plot follows geologist Adrian Helmsley (Ejiofor), who discovers the Earth's crust is becoming unstable after a massive solar flare caused by an alignment of the planets, and novelist Jackson Curtis (Cusack) as he attempts to bring his family to safety as the world is destroyed by a series of extreme natural disasters caused by this. The film refers to Mayanism and the 2012 phenomenon in its portrayal of cataclysmic events.

This article is about the Roland Emmerich film made in 2009. For other films named "2012" or similar, see 2012 (disambiguation) § Film. For a list of films released in the year 2012, see 2012 in film.

2012
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoland Emmerich
Produced by
Written by
  • Harald Kloser
  • Roland Emmerich
Story by
  • Roland Emmerich
  • Harald Kloser
Starring
Music by
CinematographyDean Semler
Edited by
Production
company
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • November 13, 2009 (2009-11-13)
Running time
158 minutes
CountryUnited States[1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$200 million[2]
Box office$791.2 million[3]

Filming, originally planned for Los Angeles, began in Vancouver in August 2008.[4] After a lengthy advertising campaign which included the creation of a website from its main characters' point of view[5] and a viral marketing website on which filmgoers could register for a lottery number to save them from the ensuing disaster,[6] 2012 was released on November 13, 2009, to commercial success, grossing over $769 million worldwide against a production budget of $200 million, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2009. The film received mixed reviews, with praise for its visual effects, but criticism of its screenplay and runtime.

Plot

In 2009, American geologist Adrian Helmsley visits astrophysicist Satnam Tsurutani in India and learns that an exotic new type of neutrinos from a huge solar flare are heating Earth's core. In Washington, D.C., Helmsley presents his information to White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser, who brings him to meet U.S. President Thomas Wilson.

In 2010, Wilson and other world leaders begin a secret project to ensure humanity's survival. China and the G8 nations begin building nine arks, each capable of carrying 100,000 people, in the Himalayas near Cho Ming, Tibet. Nima, a Buddhist monk, is evacuated and his brother Tenzin joins the ark project. Funding is raised by secretly selling tickets at €1 billion per person. By 2011, articles of value are moved to the arks with the help of art expert and First Daughter Laura Wilson.

In 2012, struggling Manhattan Beach, California-based science-fiction writer Jackson Curtis is a chauffeur for Russian billionaire Yuri Karpov. Jackson's former wife Kate and their children Noah and Lilly live with Kate's boyfriend, plastic surgeon and amateur pilot Gordon Silberman. Jackson takes Noah and Lilly camping in Yellowstone National Park. When they enter an area fenced off by the United States Army, they are caught and brought to Adrian, who has read Jackson's books. After being released they meet conspiracy theorist Charlie Frost, who hosts a radio show from the park.

That night, after the military evacuates Yellowstone, Jackson watches Charlie's video of Charles Hapgood's theory that polar shifts and the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar predict a 2012 phenomenon and the end of the world. Charlie reveals that anyone attempting to inform the public was or will be killed. After Jackson and his children return home, earthquakes begin in California. Jackson rents a private plane and rescues his family as the Earth-crust displacement begins, causing a 10.9 magnitude earthquake. Jackson and his family escape Los Angeles as much of the city collapses into the Pacific Ocean.

The group flies to Yellowstone to retrieve a map from Charlie with the arks' location. As they leave, the Yellowstone Caldera erupts; Charlie is killed while covering the eruption. The group lands in Las Vegas to find a larger plane and meet Yuri, his twin sons Alec and Oleg, his girlfriend Tamara and their pilot Sasha. Sasha and Gordon fly them out in an Antonov An-500 as the Yellowstone ash cloud envelops Las Vegas.

Adrian, Carl, and Laura fly to the arks on Air Force One. Wilson remains in Washington, D.C. to address the nation while millions of people die in earthquakes and megatsunamis worldwide, including himself. With the presidential line of succession broken, Carl assumes the position of acting commander-in-chief.

As Jackson's group reaches China, their plane runs out of fuel. Sasha continues flying the plane as the others escape in a Bentley Continental Flying Spur stored in the cargo hold. Sasha is killed when the plane slides off a cliff. The others are spotted by Chinese Air Force helicopters. Yuri and his sons, who have tickets, are taken to the arks leaving Tamara (who Yuri did not buy a ticket for as he suspected she was having an affair with Sasha), Gordon and the Curtis family. The remaining group is picked up by Nima and brought to the arks with his grandparents. With Tenzin's help, they stow away on Ark 4, where the U.S. contingent is located. As a megatsunami breaches the Himalayas and approaches the site, an impact driver lodges in the ark-door gears, keeping a boarding gate open, which prevents the ship's engines from starting. In the ensuing chaos, Gordon and Tamara are killed. Yuri is killed as well when saving his children. Tenzin is injured, the ark begins filling with water and is set adrift. Jackson and Noah dislodge the tool and the crew regains control of the Ark before it strikes Mount Everest. Jackson is reunited with his family and reconciles with Kate.

Twenty-seven days later, the waters are receding. The arks approach the Cape of Good Hope, where the Drakensberg mountains have now become the highest mountain range on Earth, due to the continent of Africa, plus a few areas of Europe and Asia, having risen above the waters. Adrian and Laura begin a relationship, while Jackson and Kate rekindle their romance.

Alternate ending

An alternate ending appears in the film's DVD release. After Captain Michaels (the Ark 4 captain) announces that they are heading for the Cape of Good Hope, Adrian learns by phone that his father, Harry, and Harry's friend Tony survived a megatsunami which capsized their cruise ship, the Genesis. Adrian and Laura strike up a friendship with the Curtises; Kate thanks Laura for taking care of Lily, Laura tells Jackson that she enjoyed his book Farewell Atlantis, and Jackson and Adrian have a conversation reflecting the events of the worldwide crisis. Jackson returns Noah's cell phone, which he recovered during the Ark 4 flood. The ark finds the shipwrecked Genesis and her survivors on a beach.[7][8]

Cast
John Cusack (left) and Amanda Peet (right), who play the lead roles in the film

Production

Development

Graham Hancock's Fingerprints of the Gods was listed in 2012's credits as the film's inspiration,[13] and Emmerich said in a Time Out interview: "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."[14] He and composer-producer Harald Kloser worked closely together, co-writing a spec script (also titled 2012) which was marketed to studios in February 2008. A number of studios heard a budget projection and story plans from Emmerich and his representatives, a process repeated by the director after Independence Day (1996) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004).[15]

Later that month, Sony Pictures Entertainment received the rights to the spec script. Planned for distribution by Columbia Pictures,[16] 2012 cost less than its budget; according to Emmerich, the film was produced for about $200 million.[2]

Filming, originally scheduled to begin in Los Angeles in July 2008,[4] began in Kamloops, Savona, Cache Creek and Ashcroft, British Columbia.[17] With a Screen Actors Guild strike looming, the film's producers made a contingency plan to salvage it.[18] Uncharted Territory, Digital Domain, Double Negative, Scanline, and Sony Pictures Imageworks were hired to create 2012's computer-animated visual effects.

The film depicts the destruction of several cultural and historical icons around the world. Emmerich said that the Kaaba was considered for selection, but Kloser was concerned about a possible fatwā against him.[19][20]

Marketing

2012 was marketed by the fictional Institute for Human Continuity, featuring a book by Jackson Curtis (Farewell Atlantis),[5] streaming media, blog updates and radio broadcasts from zealot Charlie Frost on his website, This Is The End.[5] On November 12, 2008, the studio released the first trailer for 2012. With a tsunami surging over the Himalayas and a purportedly scientific message that the world would end in 2012, the trailer's message was that international governments were not preparing their populations for the event. The trailer ended with a suggestion to viewers to "find out the truth" by entering "2012" on a search engine. The Guardian called the film's marketing "deeply flawed", associating it with "websites that make even more spurious claims about 2012".[21]

The studio introduced a viral marketing website operated by the Institute for Human Continuity, where filmgoers could register for a lottery number to be part of a small population which would be rescued from the global destruction.[6] David Morrison of NASA, who received over 1,000 inquiries from people who thought the website was genuine, 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", Morrison said. "I think when you lie on the internet and scare children to make a buck, that is ethically wrong."[22] Another marketing website promoted Farewell Atlantis, a fictional novel about the events of 2012.[5]

Comcast organized a "roadblock campaign" to promote the film in which a two-minute scene was broadcast on 450 American commercial television networks, local English-language and Spanish-language stations, and 89 cable outlets during a ten-minute window between 10:50 and 11:00 pm Eastern and Pacific Time on October 1, 2009.[23] The scene featured the destruction of Los Angeles and ended with a cliffhanger, with the entire 5:38 clip available on Comcast's Fancast website. According to Variety, "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".[23]

Soundtrack
2012: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Harald Kloser and Thomas Wander
ReleasedNovember 10, 2009
Length57:48
LabelRCA Victor
Singles from 2012: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
  1. "Time for Miracles"
    Released: October 18, 2009

The film's score was composed by Harald Kloser and Thomas Wander. Singer Adam Lambert contributed a song to the film, "Time for Miracles", and expressed his gratitude in an MTV interview.[24] The 24-song soundtrack includes "Fades Like a Photograph" by Filter and "It Ain't the End of the World" by George Segal and Blu Mankuma.[25] The trailer track was "Master of Shadows" by Two Steps From Hell.

Release

2012 was released to cinemas on November 13, 2009, in Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Mexico, India, the United States, and Japan.[26] According to the studio, the film could have been completed for a summer release but the delay allowed more time for production.

The DVD and Blu-ray versions were released on March 2, 2010. The two-disc Blu-ray edition includes over 90 minutes of features, including Adam Lambert's music video for "Time for Miracles" and a digital copy for PSP, PC, Mac, and iPod.[27] A 3D version was released in Cinemex theaters in Mexico in February 2010.[28] A 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray was released on January 19, 2021.[29]

Reception

Box office

2012 grossed $166.1 million in North America and $603.5 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $769.6 million against a production budget of $200 million,[3] making it the first film to gross over $700 million worldwide without crossing $200 million domestically.[30] Worldwide, it was the fifth-highest-grossing 2009 film[31] and the fifth-highest-grossing film distributed by Sony-Columbia, (behind Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Skyfall).[32] 2012 is the second-highest-grossing film directed by Roland Emmerich, behind Independence Day (1996).[33] It earned $230.5 million on its worldwide opening weekend, the fourth-largest opening of 2009 and for Sony-Columbia.[34]

2012 ranked number one on its opening weekend, grossing $65,237,614 on its first weekend (the fourth-largest opening for a disaster film).[35] Outside North America it is the 28th-highest-grossing film, the fourth-highest-grossing 2009 film,[36] and the second-highest-grossing film distributed by Sony-Columbia, after Skyfall. 2012 earned $165.2 million on its opening weekend, the 20th-largest overseas opening.[37] Its largest opening was in France and the Maghreb ($18.0 million). In total earnings, the film's three highest-grossing territories after North America were China ($68.7 million), France and the Maghreb ($44.0 million), and Japan ($42.6 million).[38]

In 2020, the film received renewed interest during the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming the second-most popular film and seventh-most popular overall title on Netflix in March 2020.[39]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 39% based on 243 reviews and an average rating of 5.02/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Roland Emmerich's 2012 provides plenty of visual thrills, but lacks a strong enough script to support its massive scope and inflated length."[40] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 49 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[41] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[42]

Roger Ebert praised 2012, giving it ​3 1⁄2 stars out of 4 and saying that 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".[43] Ebert and Claudia Puig of USA Today called the film the "mother of all disaster movies".[43][44] But Peter Travers of Rolling Stone compared 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."[45]

Accolades

Danny Glover was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for his role as President Thomas Wilson.[46]
Award Category Nominee(s) Result
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards[47] Best Visual Effects Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Mike Vézina Nominated
NAACP Image Award[46] Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Chiwetel Ejiofor Nominated
Danny Glover Nominated
Motion Picture Sound Editors[48] Best Sound Editing – Music in a Feature Film Fernand Bos, Ronald J. Webb Nominated
Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film Fernand Bos, Ronald J. Webb Nominated
Satellite Awards[49] Best Sound (Editing and Mixing) Paul N.J. Ottosson, Michael McGee, Rick Kline, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Michael Keller Won
Best Visual Effects Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Mike Vézina Won
Best Art Direction and Production Design Barry Chusid, Elizabeth Wilcox Nominated
Best Film Editing David Brenner, Peter S. Elliot Nominated
Saturn Awards[50] Saturn Award for Best Action, Adventure, or Thriller Film 2012 Nominated
Best Special Effects Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Mike Vézina Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards[51] Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Josh Jaggars Nominated
Best Single Visual Effect of the Year Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Josh R. Jaggars, Mohen Leo for "Escape from L.A." Nominated
Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture Haarm-Pieter Duiker, Marten Larsson, Ryo Sakaguchi, Hanzhi Tang for "Los Angeles Destruction" Nominated

North Korean ban

North Korea reportedly banned the possession or viewing of 2012. The year was the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation's founder, Kim Il-sung, and was designated as "the year for opening the grand gates to becoming a rising superpower"; a film depicting the year negatively was deemed offensive by the North Korean government. Several people in North Korea were reportedly arrested for possessing (or viewing) imported copies of 2012 and charged with "grave provocation against the development of the state".[52][53]

Canceled television spin-off

In 2010 Entertainment Weekly reported a planned spin-off television series, 2013, which would have been a sequel to the film.[54] 2012 executive producer Mark Gordon told the magazine, "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."[54] However, plans were later canceled for budgetary reasons.[54] It would have been Emmerich's third film to spawn a spin-off; the first was Stargate (followed by Stargate SG-1, Stargate Infinity, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe), and the second was Godzilla (followed by the animated Godzilla: The Series).

References
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