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]

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)