Probably THE spectacle movie of 2009 is going to end up being Roland Emmerich’s latest big-budget disaster flick, 2012, which focuses on the Mayan prophecy that the world will end in December of the year 2012. The $200 million, special-effects laden, film stars the likes of John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Thandie Newton and Danny Glover, and is set to crash into theaters in a week’s time.
However, with a film of this size, you know the buck rarely stops at one. In this case, Emmerich is already looking ahead at making more out of his latest disaster tale. Recently news surfaced that there was a 2012 sequel spin-off TV series in the works (yes, they’re thinking about furthering this seemingly finite disaster story). But wait, how can there be a sequel, in any form, of 2012… isn’t it supposed to be about the end of the world? That’s what I thought, but apparently that’s not exactly the case. Thanks to Cinemablend we have some info on what the spin-off show might take:
[SPOILERS ahead]
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As was speculated by a lot of people, the series would be called 2013, and apparently it will focus on the aftermath of the cataclysmic events that swarmed the world in the film. Emmerich says, “it’s not the bright happy future everyone was imagining [when the film ends].”
“At the end of the film, there is a band of survivors on giant rescue boats. The series follows those boats to Africa, where they land and find survivors of the massive tidal wave that struck the continent, and they’re none too happy about having been left behind.”
[End of SPOILERS]
As for what kind of tone the show would have, Emmerich made mention of both Lost and District 9,which, as Cinemablend points out, leads us to believe it will entail complex and very involved storylines, a huge cast and gritty realism. That all sounds great, but what I wanna’ know is what kind of budget it will have? I mean, 2012 had a couple of hundred million to play with to make the effects look jaw-dropping (granted, we haven’t seen the movie yet, but from the trailers that appears to be very much the case). However, that’s just not feasible for an ongoing TV series, and since a lower budget (usually) means less impressive special effects, the TV series is inevitably going to pale in comparison to the movie.
Would a TV budget maintain the spectacle of 2012?
That’s assuming that the TV series would follow suit in terms of spectacle being the focus. Just because the movie is about spectacle doesn’t mean the TV series can’t use that as a launching point to focus on other elements, such as characters and storytelling (something I think we can all admit isn’t the strengths of Emmerich’s films). I’m not saying it will, but there’s always a possibility.
Of course, this is all talk at this point as 2012 has yet to open and prove itself a box office success. I have no doubt that it will make an absolute ton of money, considering the amazing visual effects it boasts, along with the fact that it’s suited to audiences worldwide (it’s the world that’s in peril, not just America!). But all the same, Emmerich and Co. will need to hold off to see how it does at the box office before they go ahead with their plans for making anything more out of the property.
What do you think of a 2012 sequel spin-off TV series being planned? Are you surprised to find that there’s more to the story beyond the movie? Since the TV show can’t really have the same gargantuan budget, what do you think it would be like?
2012 opens in theaters on November 13th, 2009. Now word on when 2013 would hit the airwaves.
Sources: Cinemablend (thanks to SciFiWire)
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14 Comments
I agree with your first thoughts: 2012 is supposed to be about the end of the world…it just goes to show, when Hollywood wants to make money, they’ll milk something for everything it’s worth (whether they should or not).
I’m not that interested in this movie at this point, so I doubt I’d be interested in the show, but who knows.
Well, the 2012 Mayan prediction isn’t really about the end of the world, just the end of a period in human history and the beginning of another. Maybe the 2012 movie will end with humanity having to cope with over half the population being killed. The spin-off could deal with a band of survivors trying to rebuild society. I don’t think a series would last but I am looking forward to the movie.
Bad Idea.
I wont watch it.
I can bet you a large sum of money that most of the good special fx parts have already been shown in the previews. There won’t be much more to this movie.
Believers in this Mayan thing often say that it’s not the complete destruction of the human species, but a kind of wake up call, where the very basics of human life are redifined and so on. A clean slate so to speak, but with modern knowledge.
It would be interesting seeing that worked out on a tv series, slowly and in detail. Done well it could actually be pretty powerful and insightful.
It doesn’t have to be about disaster and things falling apart and huge gashes opening on the ground and continents entering the ocean. That’s what the movie shows.
It seems to me that the movie is shooting for the wake-up-call-for-the-human-species-not-total-anihilation perspective of these beliefs. It would be interesting to see how societies restructure themselves after something huge like that. I’m expecting the movie to end right when those things could be explored.
Who wouldn’t want to see that? From the common family to presidents of several countries to CEO’s and so on. All of them interacting and discussing difficult topics of our age?
The tv series could explore the ethics of what happens in the movie, for example. And not just people shaking fists at each oher.
But I always have a tendency to see the huge potential of extreme-scenarios like these, and imagine the tons of possibilities that the characters involved in events like these could teach and show the audience, but that is rarely ever put on the screen in an epic scale, which is what I would like to see.
I hope these series aren’t just about the people who survive fighting each other. and then some bomb appearing in the end. Or something silly like that.
It shouldn’t be shallow like that.
They have a great chance to do something actually pretty good here. To not tackle a wide range of issues and do that with a ton of characters, like “Lost”, would be to do a total disservice to this belief system and what it talks about, and what ti claims would be the changes in the world.
If they don’t show societies changing in some dramatic way, then the whole disaster was kinda “for nothing”.
Keep the World Destruction addiction rolling.
What is it with this world destruction fetish? Its crap!
There is hype and truth about 2012 even some doom and gloom.
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I hope the survivors aren’t stuck on an island in africa forever! So much for great TV special effects. Oh look, another smoldering tree.
2012 is Alone In The Dark levels of bad. I’m genuinely mystified as to how they spent that much money on it.
yes upp 2013 ¡¡¡¡¡
I think the movie was GREAT. Not so sure about a spin-off TV show tho… but I would definitely watch it. YayZ
Now if this will happen it has do be pretty soon? I mean it would suck when we come to the year 2012, nothing happens and then this 2013 TV show starts. xD
Anyways, I really hope they give this a chance.
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