In the late aughts, when conspiracy theories about the end of the world were everywhere, Master of Disaster Roland Emmerich couldn’t resist dramatizing one of the wildest of them all. Drawing inspiration from the ancient Mayan prophecy that predicted the world would end in 2012, he made 2012. Released in 2009, the movie, filled with jaw-dropping CGI destruction, wasn’t exactly a critical darling in the U.S., and its reception fell short of Emmerich’s earlier hits like Independence Day. But overseas, 2012 was a smash hit, grossing more than $790 million globally to become Emmerich’s second-highest-earning film. Now, over a decade later, the once-polarizing disaster epic is finally finding new life and new fans on streaming in the U.S.
2012 unfolds like a quintessential doomsday blockbuster. When scientists discover that a series of massive solar flares are heating the Earth’s core and triggering apocalyptic natural disasters, world governments secretly begin constructing enormous high-tech arks designed to preserve a fraction of humanity. As continents crumble and chaos erupts, struggling novelist Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) stumbles upon the truth and will stop at nothing to save his family and secure a spot aboard humanity’s last refuge.
The film was an incredibly star-studded affair, featuring Amanda Peet as Jackson’s ex-wife, Chiwetel Ejiofor as the moral geologist Adrian Helmsley, and Danny Glover as the U.S. President, as well as Oliver Platt as his chief of staff. Rounding out the ensemble lineup are Thandiwe Newton and Woody Harrelson, who delivered some of the movie’s memorable scenes as a conspiracy theorist broadcasting the end of days from his mountaintop radio shack.
‘2012’ Was Dismissed As “Popcorn Entertainment”
2012’s high-profile ensemble couldn’t entirely redeem the film’s perceived shortcomings. Reviews were mixed, with some critics impressed by its visual scope, while others found its script too thin to match its ambition. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 40% critics’ score, with the site’s consensus noting that “Roland Emmerich’s 2012 provides plenty of visual thrills, but lacks a strong enough script to support its massive scope and inflated length.” However, others begged to differ, including USA Today, which hailed it as “the mother of all disaster movies.”
And now, it seems American audiences are finally siding with the latter view as 2012 is currently climbing Hulu’s movie charts, outperforming popular titles like the Twilight films and Blade. The movie was co-written by Emmerich and his longtime collaborator Harald Kloser, who has also composed the score for all of Emmerich’s projects since 2004. The duo most recently reunited for 2022’s Moonfall, another starry, effects-driven sci-fi disaster romp starring Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, and John Bradley.
You can stream 2012 now on Hulu.
- Release Date
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October 10, 2009
- Runtime
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158minutes
- Director
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Roland Emmerich
- Writers
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Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser