2012 (movie)

2012 is an American disaster film co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich , released in 2009 .

The film refers to the Mayanism of Central America with its long – term calendar and its scenario describes the consequences of the occurrence of cataclysmic events of the kind that were supposed to occur in 2012 .

Synopsis

Due to solar- induced neutrino bombardment , the Earth’s core begins to heat at an unprecedented rate, ultimately causing crustal displacements by December 2012, as predicted. It follows a scenario of the end of the world that plunges humanity into chaos. The film follows a group of characters as they narrowly escape countless disasters. At the same time, scientists and world leaders are trying to save as many lives as possible before the onset of disasters.

Los Angeles is engulfed in the Pacific Ocean after the destruction caused by an earthquake, the caldera of Yellowstone National Park erupts, Hawaii becomes a torrent of lava and earthquakes ravage the world including Las Vegas and Vatican , destroying all civilization and causing gigantic tsunamis including a submerged Washington , the White House is being hit by USS aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy . Following these disasters, the South pole (magnetic) is in theWisconsin and the Drakensberg Massif in South Africa becomes the highest peak in the New World. After many adventures by plane, the group of characters finally arrives at the “arches” built and anchored in the Himalayas and whose number of places is limited.

Technical sheet

  • Original title: 2012
  • Director: Roland Emmerich
  • Scenario: Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser
  • Artistic Direction: Ross Dempster , Kendelle Elliott , Dan Hermansen and Don Macaulay
  • Sets: Barry Chusid
  • Costumes: Shay Cunliffe
  • Photography: Dean Semler
  • Editing: David Brenner and Peter S. Elliot
  • Music: Harald Kloser and Thomas Wanker
  • Production: Larry Franco , Mark Gordon and Harald Kloser
  • Production Company: Centropolis Entertainment
  • Distribution Company: Columbia Pictures
  • Budget: 200 million to $ 1
  • Revenue: $ 769,700,000
  • Country of origin: United States
  • Original language: English
  • Format: color – 2.35: 1 – 35 mm
  • Genre: disaster
  • Duration: 158 minutes
  • Release dates:
    •  Belgium , France , French-speaking Switzerland :  2
    •  United States , Canada : 2

Distribution

  • John Cusack (VF: Arnaud Bedouet , VQ: Pierre Auger ) : Jackson Curtis
  • Amanda Peet (VF: Laura White , VQ: Isabelle Leyrolles ) : Kate Curtis
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor (VF Frantz Confiac; DV: Gilbert Lachance )Dr. Adrian Helmsley, Scientific
  • Thandie Newton (VF: Annie Milon ; DV: Michèle Lituac )r Laura Wilson, daughter of President Wilson, member of the organization “Heritage”
  • Oliver Platt (VF: Daniel Lafourcade , VQ: Tristan Harvey ) : Carl Anheuser, Head of Operation “Cho Ming”, Chief of Staff to the President of the United States 3
  • Woody Harrelson (VF: Jérôme Pauwels , VQ: Frédéric Desager ) : Charlie Frost
  • Danny Glover (VF: Greg Germain , VQ: Vincent Davy ) : President Thomas Wilson ( President of the United States )
  • Stephen McHattie (VQ: Daniel Picard ) : Commander Michaels, Captain of the American Ark
  • George Segal (VF: Dominique Paturel , VQ: Hubert Fielden ) : Tony DelGatto, Harry’s fellow musician
  • Thomas McCarthy (VF: Jerome Rebbot , VQ: Patrice Dubois ) : Gordon Silberman, companion of Kate Curtis
  • Patrick Bauchau (VF: himself ) : Roland Picard, director of the Louvre Museum
  • Jimi Mistry (VF: Asil Nais ) : Satnam, Indian geophysicist
  • John Billingsley (VF: Gérard Dessalles , VQ: Michel M. Lapointe ) : Professor West, scientist
  • Zlatko Burić (VF: Regis Ivanov, VQ: Thiéry Dube) : Yuri Karpov, the Russian billionaire
  • Beatrice Rosen (VF: herself , VQ: Viviane Pacal ) : Tamara, companion of Yuri Karpov
  • Karin Konoval (VF: Pauline Larrieu ) : Sally, the presidential secretary
  • Johann Urb (VQ: Jean-François Beaupré ) : Yuri’s pilot, Sacha
  • Osric Chau : Nima, a Buddhist monk , brother of Tenzin
  • Chin Han : Tenzin, worker on the building site in Tibet, brother of Nima
  • Blu Mankuma (VQ: Hubert Gagnon ) : Harry Helmsley, Adrian’s father and Tony’s musical companion
  • Ryan McDonald (VQ: Benoît Ethier) : Adrian’s friend Scotty
  • Henry O : Lama Rinpoche
  • Liam James (VF: Olivier Cywie , VQ: Damien Muller ) : Noah Curtis
  • Morgan Lily (VQ: Ludivine Reding ) : Lilly Curtis
  • Lyndall Grant (VF: Daniel Beretta ) : The Governor of California on TV ( Arnold Schwarzenegger )
  • Elizabeth Richard : Elizabeth II
  • Merrilyn Gann : Angela Merkel
Source and captionFrench version (VF) on Voxofilm 4

Production

Co-writer and director Roland Emmerich at a Berlin press conference in October 2007.

Filming started in in Vancouver in Canada [ref. necessary] .

Reception

Promotion

The film’s marketing was due to the campaign of a fictional organization, an Institute for Human Continuity , with a fictional book written by Jackson Curtis and titled Adieu Atlantis ( Farewell Atlantis ), and a great media organization, daily blogging news and radio broadcasts from apocalypse fanatic Charlie Frost on his website This Is The End . This campaign has been the subject of much criticism and has been seen as a form of viral marketing .

Home

The film received mixed assessments by film critics, and held the head of the international box office in its first weekend with 225 million dollars 5 . In total revenues exceeded 769 million US dollars worldwide, making this film the second for gross receipts behind Independence Day .

Controversy

During the film, Christians praying at the Vatican are crushed by the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. On the other hand, a scene depicting the mecca ravaged by the waves was voluntarily removed from the script, Emmerich not wanting to “cause a fatwa ” and “live with bodyguards until the end of [his] days” 6 . This self-censorship provokes a controversy.

A complaint was filed by the Catholic Church of Brazil against Columbia Pictures for using without permission the statue of Christ of Rio in their film and its destruction. Indeed, the archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro has the rights to the image of this famous statue, the Columbia Pictures had officially requested the permission which was refused by the archbishopric. Columbia Pictures used even when the images of the Christ statue of Rio de Janeiro 7 .

Prohibition in North Korea

The North Korea would have prohibited the possession or viewing of the film for the year 2012 is the 100 th anniversary of the nation’s founding and was designated “year to open the doors of the Grand to become a superpower.” Thus, a film depicting the year in a negative light is considered offensive by the North Korean government. Several people in North Korea have reportedly been arrested for possessing or consulting pirated copies of the film and charged with “serious provocation against state development.” » 8 , 9

Around the film

viewThis section does not cite its sources enough (May 2017) .

Several symbols appear in certain sequences of the film:

  • During the earthquake destroying the Vatican , a crack in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel separates the hand of God from that of the Man of Adam’s Creation .
  • At the tsunami on Washington DC , USS aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy crashes on the White House : President Kennedy is the last American president who died during his tenure.
  • The Africa is the only continent spared (though it raises 2000 meters ), which is where the first men would have appeared; it is also where survivors come together.
  • Part of the events presented in the film take place in August 2012: in a scene where a report is broadcast on television, we learn that the London Olympics had to be interrupted following riots contesting the omerta decided by the Prime Minister.
  • The heroes use an Antonov An-500, a version of the An-225 with a rear cargo door that was planned, but which will eventually never be built.
  • The song Time for Miracles, introduced in the end credits is an unpublished version of the title. It was recorded a second time, especially for the film, by Adam Lambert , the author of the piece.

Box office

Country or region Box Office Box office shutdown date Number of weeks
 World 10 US $ 769,653,595 14
 United States 10 $ 166,112,167 14
 France 11 4,631,838 entries 9
 Quebec 12 4,278,990 $ CAN 6
  • Ce film connaît un succès mondial. Sorti dans 108 pays, il a engrangé 770 millions de dollars américains entre sa sortie et février 2010.
  • Pendant son premier weekend aux États-Unis, il a engrangé 65 millions de dollars américains13. Depuis, il y comptabilise 166 millions.
  • 2012 a connu le meilleur démarrage en France parmi les films réalisés par Roland Emmerich, lors de sa toute première semaine en France, 2,2 millions de spectateurs ont vu le film (2 212 370)14. Plus de 4,6 millions d’entrées (44 000 000 $ US) ont été réalisées en France.
  • More than a million French have seen The Patriot (1,160,975 admissions in 7 weeks), The Day after has conquered 2.7 million viewers (2,691,632 admissions in 10 weeks), while 10,000 n has not reached the symbolic mark of one million (833 476 entries in 4 weeks). 2012 is number 1 at the French box office among Emmerich films released between 2000 and 2009. This is one of the biggest successes of the Sony Columbia Pictures.

DVD / Blu-Ray

Sales duration DVD Blu-Ray Total
 France 15 25 weeks 425,702 138,379 564,081
  • On March 11, 2010, 2012 is available on DVD, with a duration of 2 h 31 and in Blu-Ray, lasting 2 h 38. There is the DVD in single edition, in collector’s edition and Blu-ray Ray.
  • The collector’s edition 2 DVD is a very limited edition, 40,000 copies are available in France.
  • Bonus:
  • Simple Edition and Collector’s Edition – DVD 1
    • An audio commentary by Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser
    • The cut scenes
    • An alternative end
    • “Roland Emmerich: the master of the modern epic”
  • Collector’s Edition – DVD 2
    • “Designing the end of the world”
    • “The science behind destruction”
    • “The end of the world: an actor’s point of view”

Notes and references

  1. ↑ ” ‘2012’s Roland Emmerich: Grilled ”  [ archive ] , The Wrap (accessed 28 November 2014 )
  2. ↑ a and b (en) Official Site – Sonypictures.com  [ archive ]
  3. ↑ (in) Thomas McCarthy join in 2012 ” ( Archive • Wikiwix • Archive.is • Google • What to do? )
  4. ↑ “VF dubbing sheet of the film”  [ archive ] on Voxofilm , accessed January 28, 2013
  5. ↑ ” 2012 ‘destroys worldwide box office ” ( Archive • WikiWix • Archive.is • Google • What to do? )
  6. ↑ http://www.lejdd.fr/Culture/Cinema/News/Emmerich-Ce-n-is–que-du-cinema!-148515/  [ archive ]
  7. ↑ http://www.unificationfrance.com/spip.php?article9407  [ archive ]
  8. ↑ (in) Daisuke Nishimura , ” Watching ‘2012’ a no-no in N. Korea ” , Asahi.com , The Asahi Shimbun Company, ( read online  [ archive ] )
  9. ↑ (in) North Korea fears 2012 disaster movie will thwart rise as superpower ”  [ archive ] , The Telegraph ,(accessed July 18, 2011 )
  10. ↑ a and b (in) jpbox-office.com  [ archive ]
  11. ↑ jpbox-office.com  [ archive ]
  12. ↑ ” 2012 at the Quebec box office ”  [ archive ] , on Cinoche.com (accessed February 11, 2010 ) .
  13. ↑ jpbox-office.com  [ archive ]
  14. ↑ jpbox-office.com  [ archive ]
  15. ↑ grossing DVD and Blu-Ray / Allociné  [ archive ]

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