Oddly, the film correctly portrays the human reaction: governments lying, rich people buying survival spots, and chaos in the streets. It also correctly showed that the Mayan calendar didn't predict an end but a reset . (In the film’s finale, Africa rises, creating a new world.)

While the film takes creative liberties with the science, it does touch on some real theories:

In 2012, as the prophesied date approached, Sony Pictures re-released "2012" in 3D. The conversion was a massive undertaking, involving a team of 460 people who worked on over 1,400 visual effects scenes that were originally rendered for the 2009 release. Each shot was meticulously adjusted to maximize the 3D effect, aiming to create the most realistic and immersive experience possible.

Before it was a movie, "2012" was a global phenomenon rooted in doomsday theories.

Instead of relying on an asteroid or alien invasion, 2012 grounds its apocalypse in (pseudo) science.