Executive producer Roland Emmerich will also direct. Emmerich also helmed this year's 10,000 BC, where he proved that the best weapons against assorted prehistoric creatures and menacing baddies aren't spears and rocks, but a spectacular physique and a supermodel smile. You may also remember him from such big-budget films as The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day, and 1998's Godzilla. Going by that list of credits, it would seem that much like the big green reptilian star he once worked with, Emmerich likes to get a little destructive. True to form, his latest will "[kick] off will a global cataclysm" that pretty much makes worrying about your credit card bills a thing of the past, and will follow the survivors from there.

Emmerich co-wrote the script with Harold Kloser, who he previously teamed with for that Hot Caveman pic. This may not bode well for the dialogue, but maybe having Cusack deliver lines ought to make them play a little better. Chiwetel Ejiofor, most recently seen in Redbelt, is also in talks to join the cast. The film is set to begin shooting this July in Los Angeles, which should make the governor of California happy.

For better or for worse, you won't have to wait till 2012 to find out how the world ends: The ancient Mayan calendar also foretells that this movie will have a summer 2009 release.