2012: A New Doomsday For Hollywood

Now that the millennium has come and went, Hollywood is looking for the next big Doomsday date. And they have found it. December 21st 2012 is the last date on the ancient Mayan calendar. Many have theorized that the day is the last day before the end of the world. The Roman Catholic Saint Malachy predicted that the last Pope would arrive in 2012, inciting Judgment Day. Some UFO theorists claim 2012 is the year aliens invade Earth (a plot also featured in The X Files). Some scientists also speculate that a polar reversal will take place on earth, and that "once the earth starts rotating in the opposite direction, natural disasters of unknown proportions may occur."

So far Michael Bay is already eyeing a 2012-based Sci-Fi film. And tonight it was announced that Nickelodeon/Paramount has hired Tom Dey (Failure to Launch) to direct a 2012-based family action-adventure. I'm sure more Hollywood studios will follow suit.

2012 is written by Failure to Launch and Get Smart scribes Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember. The story follows a family who goes on vacation in December 2012, just before the infamous Mayan calendar is set to end.

One of Michael Bay's next films is supposedly an adaptation of sci-fi author Whitley Strieber's forthcoming novel 2012: The War for Souls. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek XI) are reportedly producing and writing the screenplay. The novel is expected in book stores in September 2007.