It's the end of the world as we know it, but we feel fine - because John Cusack's going to be leading the way into the apocalypse. Yes, JC (no, not that one) has signed on to star in Roland Emmerich's 2012, with Chiwetel Ejiofor in talks to join him.
The plot of the film is still under wraps, but deals with the belief by some beardy fans of cod astrology that there is a significance to the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar, a 5,000-year long cycle (which really saves on investing in new ones every Christmas) that comes to an end on December 21, 2012 (according to at least one source, at exactly 11.11am, but we're not sure which time zone that is, so it's probably best to just ignore it). This will either mean absolutely nothing, or herald the end of human civilisation, with earthquakes and all sorts doing for our species what we're well on our way to doing anyway.
In the film, this global cataclysm will apparently kick things off, with the rest of the story dealing with the struggles of the survivors. Expect BIG explosions in the first act, then, and either some mystery monsters or full-on tribal warfare after that.
Filming starts in LA in July, for a July 2009 release (Phew! So there'll be time for it to come on TV before the End of Days. Good news for the residuals!) But seriously, folks, if this is anything like Emmerich's other opuses (opi?), this will be big, dumb and thoroughly fun, so count us in!