Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2009

Hollywood loves destroying the world, and over the next few months, good old Earth is in for some major catastrophes on the big screen. The first, 2012, is a $200 million epic directed by Roland Emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day) and starring John Cusack as a mathematician trying to save his family. Other big-name cast members include Danny Glover as the US president and Woody Harrelson as a doomsday prophet. German director Emmerich, who attended the Japan premiere along with Cusack and others, said 2012 was the most difficult film he has ever done. “There are up to 1,400 visual effects in it. We had effects for every conceivable challenge.” The spectacular FX include a massive tidal wave that tips an aircraft carrier onto the White House, fireballs dropping from the sky, and St Peter’s Basilica collapsing on the faithful. Cusack said 2012 is a tale of a new beginning as governments are forced to discard ideology to work together on saving humanity: “No more China, Russia, United States. Jew, Palestinian, Christian, Muslim… it’s just people.” Apocalyptic sagas still to come include The Road, The Book of Eli, Daybreakers, Zombieland and Survival of the Dead, as well as documentaries about environmental or economic doom like Collapse and The Age of Stupid.