Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Sony Pictures has released the first full trailer for 2012, the next big disaster film from Roland Emmerich, the director of Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and Godzilla.
Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. 2012 is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors. Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton and Oliver Platt.
To be honest, I had kinda gotten tired of the disaster movie genre as a whole, and wasn’t really looking forward to 2012 at all. But judging from this trailer, 2012 looks like it could be the first fun disaster film we’ve seen in a long while. Some of the effects-infused scenes just look incredible. I don’t think I’ve been this excited about seeing a disaster film since first witnessing the alien ship blow up the White House in the Independence Day teaser during the Superbowl. Watch the trailer after the jump (we’ve also included the international trailer which features a few different shots) and leave your thoughts in the comments below. What do you think?
Read More »
Roland Emmerich’s 2012 Gets Its Release Date Pushed Back to November
Posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 by David Chen
The other day, we posted about how Roland Emmerich was attached to direct Isaac Asimov’s classic Foundation trilogy. That article provoked a wave of ill will against Emmerich from many who were dubious of his ability to handle anything approaching subtlety. But despite my feelings towards Emmerich, I was still willing to give his upcoming film, 2012, a chance. I have a soft spot for disaster films. And who knows? Maybe Emmerich still has it in him to deliver a summer blockbuster with a heart and/or a brain.
Unfortunately, it’s now looking like Sony doesn’t think the film has summer blockbuster potential. While 2012 was originally supposed to be released on July 10th, it has now been moved to November 13th. According to Sony distribution president Rory Bruer, “We’ve had such success with the James Bond films in November that we wanted a big tentpole film in that slot this year…We’ve got so many films in the summer that this is the perfect answer to that.” 2012 will now go up against Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr., and Tooth Fairy. The new release date will also give the production some extra time to take care of the copious special effects required for the film.
While July 10th is a great date for studio tentpole releases, the weeks in November leading up to Thanksgiving are also a fairly lucrative time for movie studios. The question for you guys is: Would you be more likely to see the latest Emmerich disaster film in summer or fall? Or are you planning on skipping it regardless of when it’s released?
Columbia Wins Rights for Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, with Roland Emmerich Directing
Posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 by David Chen
Columbia Pictures has won rights to produce a film adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation science fiction trilogy, with Roland Emmerich attached to direct. Emmerich will produce along with Michael Wimer, who was also a producer (and thus, a complicit party) in Emmerich’s own 10,000 B.C. According to Variety, Sony-owned Columbia Pictures’ win came as a surprise, as WB and Fox were originally duking it out for this one, which now appears to be their lot in life. Through the fray, Columbia’s president, Matt Tolmach, apparently saw an opportunity to acquire the rights and went for it.
Read More »
2012 Viral: InstituteForHumanContinuity.org
Posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
/Film reader Kevin B came across a viral website from Roland Emmerich’s 2012. I checked the domain records, and the website points to a name server at Sony Pictures. So it seems like it might be legit. Here is the e-mail from Kevin:
After watching the teaser for Roland Emmerich’s 2012, I was curious about the whole concept and I took the trailer’s advice (I don’t know if anyone’s ever said a movie trailer gave them advice before…) and googled it.
I was interested to find that the first link, sponsored no less, was to a site with the URL “InstituteForHumanContinuity.org” and the tagline “Let Us Help You Prepare For 2012 Because Your Government Won’t.” When I went to the site, I found myself scratching my head when the site wanted me to register for some kind of “lottery” that would “save” me (brings to mind Deep Impact, if you ask me).
I thought the site was interesting and immediately figured it was some sort of viral site that was made just to generate buzz about the movie, so I thought I should do my due diligence and inform the awesome writers of /Film.com who in turn, could inform their loyal readers of this suspicious website.
Anyways, like I said, love /Film and even if you knew about the site already, keep up the great work!
Sayonara,
Kevin B from WI
Sony has just premiered the teaser trailer for Roland Emmerich’s epic disaster movie 2012. It’s not nearly as good as the Superbowl teaser for Emmerich’s Independence Day, but it does build to a cool “oh my god” moment.
I’ll be completely honest, Emmerich hasn’t made a great movie in the last decade. What’s the chances that this movie will be any better than say 10,000 BC? I really wish Emmerich would turn out another fun disaster film like ID4. And while I can admit this teaser is promising, I have a feeling that 2012 will be nothing more than a bunch of cool disaster effects sequences strung together. And some of you might argue that Independence Day was just that, and you very well could be right. But I think his last few films have lacked the comedy, energy and characters of ID4. Watch the trailer and tell me what you think in the comments below.
Watch the trailer in High Definition on Moviefone.com. 2012 hits theaters on July 10th 2009.
Woody Harrelson to Star in Roland Emmerich’s 2012
Posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 by Hunter Stephenson
Dear Roland Emmerich, you cannot out-destroy our planet better than Michael Bay. We’d rather you burn the $200 million budget for 2012 in a pit on the beach and film Woody Harrelson and Danny Glover dancing around it. MTV confirms that Woody has signed to star in Emmerich’s Mayan Doomsday Bonanza, 2012, and, yes, he’ll play the token “told you so” paranoiac…
“I play a guy who’s been talking for a long time, the whole world thinks he’s crazy,” Harrelson said of his character. “But he’s been talking that there’s gonna be hell to pay for what’s been going on ecologically and everything.”
Harrelson added, “I don’t know why they thought of me.” Yep. He’ll join a cast that includes John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Amanda Peet, Glover and (of course) Oliver Platt. Emmerich’s last two films, 10,000 BC and The Day After Tomorrow, were godawful and probably cost more than the Iraq War. He also made The Patriot, which has a growing ironic following due to the Pineapple Express tribute posters.
Michael Bay has a “competing” project in development called 2012: The War For the Souls. If anyone out there has a voice oft-mistaken for a cool demon’s, please leave the previous sentence on Emmerich’s voice mail every single day until his film is released on July 10, 2009.
Danny Glover, Thandie Newton and Oliver Platt Join 2012
Posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
Danny Glover, Thandie Newton and Oliver Platt are in discussions to join Roland Emmerich’s epic disaster project 2012. An academic researcher (John Cusack) opens a portal into a parallel universe and makes contact with his double in order to prevent an apocalypse predicted by the ancient Mayans. December 21st 2012 is the last day of the Mayan calendar, believed to be the end of the world. Glover would play the president of the United States, Newton would be his daughter, and Platt would be his chief of staff.
THR also says that 2012 was being shopped around Hollywood with a $200 million budget, but Columbia claims it will be made for less than that. This either means the preproduction budget is like $180-190 million or the Sony-owened studio just doesn’t want to fess up to the real price tag. Bottom line is that the film is expensive. Emmerich is best known as the director of Independence Day, Stargate and Universal Soldier. But as of recent years the German director has produced lackluster efforts: Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow and 10,000 BC. Bad news is that Emmerich penned the screenplay with composer turned writer Harald Kloser, the same guy behind 10,000 BC.
2012 is scheduled to begin shooting in July 2009, and is penciled in for a July 10th 2009 release (however, the actors strike could delay everything).
John Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor Cast in Roland Emmerich’s 2012
Posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 by Peter Sciretta
John Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Redbelt) have been cast in Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi summer blockbuster movie 2012. An academic researcher opens a portal into a parallel universe and makes contact with his double in order to prevent an apocalypse predicted by the ancient Mayans. December 21st 2012 is the last day of the Mayan calendar, believed to be the end of the world.
Emmerich is best known as the director of Independence Day, Stargate and Universal Soldier. But as of recent years the German director has produced lackluster efforts: Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow and 10,000 BC. Bad news is that Emmerich penned the screenplay with composer turned writer Harald Kloser, the same guy behind 10,000 BC. Hopefully the addition of Cusack will raise the level of this project.
2012 begins filming shooting in February 2009.
source: Variety
Wonder-Con premiered a new, exclusive trailer during the first panel of the day presented by Warner Brothers, 10,000 B.C., Roland Emmerich’s (The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day, Stargate) latest magnum opus (okay, slight overstatement). Emmerich’s films tend be big, loud, and, more often than not, ridiculous, contrived and, for those of willing to admit it to ourselves, guilty pleasures of the highest order (or lowest, depending on your perspective). From the trailer we saw, 10,000 B.C. looks like more of the same.
The trailer seemed to have a lot in common with Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, except in reverse. Thanks (or rather no thanks) to an advanced, pyramid-building civilization hunting for slaves, a mammoth hunter, D’Leh (Steven Strait), loses his lover Evolet (Camilla Belle). The rest of the film keeps the characters separated while D’Leh makes his way across treacherous terrain to an ancient city and the already mentioned pyramids.
Like Emmerich’s previous big-screen spectacles, 10,000 B.C. relies heavily on state-of-the-art visual effects. Every shot in the trailer was crammed with CGI, most of it solid, but some scenes still looked rough and the CG mammoths and saber-toothed tiger looked good in some shots, worse in others. If the online reports are true, 10,000 B.C. wasn’t ready for a fall release, so Warner Brothers decided to push it back five or six months while Emmerich and his team completed the visual effects. That, of course, says nothing about the story, which looks as cheesy as anything Emmerich’s done so far.
Emmerich, Strait (the forthcoming Stop Loss, Sky High), and Belle (When a Stranger Calls, The Quiet, The Invisible Circus) were all on hand for the panel discussion, which went from a brief introduction by Emmerich where he mentioned the lengthy, difficult shoot (n New Zealand and Africa to the Q&A session that began, naturally enough, with a question about 10,000 B.C.’s historical accuracy.
The short answer: not much. For Emmerich, the setting and time period allowed him to combine his research into mammoth hunters and their society with a fictionalized prehistoric civilization. Emmerich cited Fingerprints of the Gods (a questioner mentioned Chariot of the Gods) that posits an ancient, unknown civilization as a source for 10,000 B.C.. The voiceover narration in the trailer indicates as much (maybe even the “lost” continent of Atlantis). Emmerich wanted the freedom the combine facts, fiction, even Robert E. Howard “Conan the Barbarian” style fantasy (as another questioner mentioned). Emmerich later mentioned Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Quest for Fire as an inspiration for 10,000 B.C..
As for the actors and preparation, both Strait and Belle confirmed the obvious: it was a hard, time-consuming, physical shoot that required intense preparation and training. Strait, however, mentioned that Emmerich shot 10,000 B.C. in sequence (meaning scenes were shot in the order in which they appear in the screenplay and in the film). It’s rare for a film to be shot in sequence, but it seems like it’d help actors, since they wouldn’t have to worry about where a scene fits into the overall film or where in their character’s inner arc the scene appears. Belle did add something interesting; the characters speak in accented English that mixes Standard English with Arabic (since, presumably, 10,000 B.C. takes place in the Middle East.
As for future projects, Emmerich confirmed that he’d be making 2012 as his next film, he refused to say anything else. IMDB still lists the remake of Fantastic Voyage as his next project, but as is often the case, it’s probably out-of-date. Given that Emmerich didn’t mention Fantastic Voyage, it’s been either temporarily shelved or permanently postponed.
Roland Emmerich to Direct 2012 Apocalypse Movie, Now Being Shopped to Studios
Posted on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 by Hunter Stephenson
“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?
Warner Bros has released the official one-sheet for Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 BC. The poster touts Emmerich’s successful blockbuster films Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, but forgets to mention the American remake of Godzilla. I wonder why? </sarcasm> And the tagline is “It takes a hero to change the world.” 10,000BC hits theaters on March 7th 2008 AD. Check out the full poster after the jump. Read More »
Roland Emmerich Tries To Explain Why James Cameron’s Fantastic Voyage Script Sucked
Posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2007 by Peter Sciretta
Independence Day and Day After Tomorrow director Roland Emmerich says he turned down a James Cameron draft for his upcoming remake of Fantastic Voyage because… it was set in the future?!
“Two years ago Jim called me up and said ‘Roland I want you to look at the script for Fantastic Voyage – it’s not there yet’. And he sent it over and I hated the script,” said Emmerich. “I said why have you put this in the future? I said let this happen now. It’s so much more cool and fun when we can say to a normal person from now, ‘well we’re going to make you microscopic and put you in some submarine which we will shrink down and you have to do this stuff inside a body’,” “There were two submarines in the body. It was like a Navy SEALS film.”
National Treasure scribes Marianne and Cormac Wibberley are currently hard at work on a page-one rewrite. I never had the chance to read the Cameron draft, so I have no sense of if it was good or bad. The only thing I have to go by is Emmerich’s past career. Sure, the guy made a couple fun sci-fi flicks: Stargate and Independence Day, but the rest of his filmography isn’t anything to brag about. This is the guy who made the 1998 America remake of Godzilla, Universal Soldier, Ghost Chase, and Joey.
So may-be Emmerich doesn’t have the best sensibilities. And Cameron clearly has a better track record. But I’m sure the writing team that wrote National Treasure 2 and the 2006 remake of The Shaggy Dog probably know better than the guy who wrote Terminator 2 and Titanic…. uh, yeah…
source: Empire
