Disaster flick, 2012 to hit the small screen?

The director divulged some details: “The plan is that it is 2013 and it’s about what happens after the disaster,” he added. “It is about the resettling of Earth. That is very, very fascinating. [Emmerich’s co-writer and producer on the project] Harald Kloser and I came up with the idea and we have the luxury of having a producer on the film who is a big TV producer, Mark Gordon.”

He continues: "We said to Mark, “Why don’t you do a TV show that picks up where the movie leaves off and call it 2013?” I think it will focus on a group of people who survived but not on the boats … maybe they were on a piece of land that was spared or one that became an island in the process of the crust moving. There are so many possibilities of what they could do and I’d be excited to watch it."

So that’s one viewer, but it seems that Gordon with his TV connections (he’s an executive producer for small screen hits like Grey’s Anatomy and Criminal Minds) is already talking up the project around Tinseltown, with discussions rumoured to have begun with network ABC (who incidentally show Grey’s Anatomy). It’s still at a very early stage, with ABC unwilling to comment, yet Gordon did allude to a possible collaboration, by hinting that ABC "will have an opening in their disaster-related programming after Lost ends.”

Like Emmerich, he believes there’s great mileage in the concept of a show looking at the movie’s aftermath. “I think people would be interested in this topic on a weekly basis,” he enthused. “There’s hope for the world despite the magnitude of the 2012 disaster as seen in the film. After the movie, there are some people who survive and the question is how will these survivors build a new world and what will it look like. That might make an interesting TV series.”

Mmm, sounds intriguing, but talking it up before the film’s even opened is unusual. How would we rate this, Boxwishers? A sensible and logical next stop for a film that is expected to perform well? Or is it a case of counting your chickens before they’ve hatched (or more like stomping on them, if Emmerich’s disaster-loving past record in cinema is anything to go by)? Leave a comment and let us know.

[via Entertainment Weekly]