“Michael Bay, go direct your 2012 movie over there.”
Update: Emmerich and Kloser’s script was purchased by Sony Pictures, it was announced Thursday. The budget for 2012 is said to be near $200 million.
Roland Emmerich, director of spectacle event films like Independence Day, Godzilla and the upcoming 10,000 B.C., is currently in search of a studio to park his latest film, 2012. Apparently this similarly big budget flick has nothing to do with Michael Bay’s project, 2012: The War For Souls, beyond using the Mayan calendar, which indicates bad things coming our way in four years, as inspiration. The script currently being pitched to studios was written by Emmerich and composer-writer Harald Kloser, and, save for a SGA strike, Variety says to expect the movie to hit theaters in 2009. Bay’s film, based on Whitley Strieber’s novel, is currently scheduled on IMDB for 2010.
If this is another Deep Impact vs. Armageddon showdown, it’s less intense, but if anyone’s contracted to blow up the world, it should be Bay in my estimation. Didn’t Emmerich already have his shot with 2004’s terrible The Day After Tomorrow, or was that his ice-apocalypse, while this one will be fire-related? Wikipedia says that dire Mayan-related predictions for 2012 range from super-volcanoes, earthquakes and cosmic rays to a dramatic shift in human consciousness. I predict a Black Eyed Peas reunion and Uwe Boll’s 2013. Random factoid: Some of you will recall that I Am Legend takes place in 2012.
Discuss: Bay vs. Emmerich. What’s the difference?
February 20th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I prefer neither but Emmrich still has Stargate under his belt even though he might have strayed far from the kind of quality control he exhibited making that flick. If Bay could somehow ween himself off stereotypes but keep his monkeys churning out the epic effects his films could actually be lasting achievements instead of commercial fodder. But we all know thats asking too much.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:38 am
bay knows what’s awesome.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:49 am
One makes REALLY terrible movies, and the other one… actually, on second thought, there’s no difference.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Roland is cooler than Michael Bay. Atleast Roland tries to make different kinds of movies.
Michael only knows how to blow cars up and do chase scenes. He is pathetic. Transformers saved his ass otherwise he was going to end up being a flop director.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Michael Bay isnt terrible at all, he is actually very good making films of pure action entertainment, wich is his job. Nothing more.
Emmerich’s job is just mediocre.
By the way, the end of the mayan calendar is not about the end of the world or apocalypsis, its just the end of a cycle and the beginning of another, but what the hell..
February 20th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Roland Emmerich needs to be stopped. GINO was a travesty and the Day After Tomorrow (which I believe is also a Whitley Streiber book) was so bad it actually gave me diarrhea. It’ll be nice to see the movie nerds shred him for a while and give the tired Bay-bashing a much-needed break.
February 20th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
C’mon… why so much hate for Michael Bay? He has pretty much the best scene composition in the shots in the whole Hollywood. Dunno why people hate him so much
Although the stories that he direct sometimes suck, but he still delivers and here is difference between him and Roland Emmerich. Emmerich just sets up for a big spectacle, and he always fails half way through (although usually the first half of most of his movies are visually pleasant.. hell, even the first half of Godzilla was OK)
February 20th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Speaking about dramaturgy, Emmerich has more to give than Bay. Even though Emmerich’s main contents are quite predictable, they give a moral commitment that can be understood and be more accepted by our subconscious feelings. Something that Gustav Freytag teaches as the basic column any kind of opera or theater piece.
In terms of which popcorn size I would buy for the SfX/VfX show, i must confess that Emmerich will lead me to buy a middle-size and Bay a Big-size one.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
it’s pretty simple, shora.
i’ve never cared about a single character in a michael bay movie.
technically, he’s astute, but as a story teller, he’s about at the level of the average 7th grader.
does that help?
February 21st, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Ice-apocalypse — so much for global warming!
March 11th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
First of all Ian The global warming is warming the ice caps to a point were they will melt. If that occurs there will be so much water it will completely stop the warming effect of the planet thus creating an ice age… Second of all I think the movie would sell. These days you hear alot of 2012 a movie about the topic will only bring out the curiousity in people.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:42 am
Look, Godzilla was the greatest piece of motion picture history to be thrust upon our (or any) generation. If you can’t accept that then there is no hope for our world.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:18 am
all this end of the year bullshit is really annoying and has people going crazy.And now theyre making a movie about it,that’ll help
July 17th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Where will “2012 be filmed? Blue Ridge Motion Pictures in Aseville, NC has a great studio to film in. William