Vatican City? That’s innovative. Even Godzilla didn’t wreck Vatican City! And while everyone jokes about an earthquake sending California sliding off into the sea, has anyone actually showed it before? Nice.

I hadn’t realized from previous info that the film had “ships” of some sort in it – it isn’t clear whether these ships are spacecraft intended to flee the planet, or if they are (as hinted in glimpses) simply modern-day Noah’s Arks waiting out the catastrophe at sea. Either way, the premise one can glean from Emmerich’s trailer is vaguely similar to Martin Caidin’s 1987 SF novel Exit Earth, in which a looming planetary catastrophe triggers a similar response.  Oddly enough, my copy from back in the day proclaims in bold type on the front cover, “Soon to be a Major Motion Picture!”.  I’m glad in a way that “soon” wasn’t - the special effects in 1987 would have been pretty lame. 

 Some of the scenes are also reminiscent of the old classic, When Worlds Collide, specifically the panicked mobs rushing up the ramp onto one of the aforementioned ships - perhaps it’s Emmerich’s nod to George Pal.  There was some talk a couple of years back about a remake of WWC, which makes me curious as to whether this instead was the project in question. Too bad, if so - having read the book WWC  was based on, I was really looking forward to a faithful new adaptation…not least because the novel’s escape spacecraft were constructed in the wilds of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  (While the movie is considered a classic, beyond some of the effects it’s honestly pretty awful, especially given the potential of the book and its sequel.)

UPDATE: Well, it turns out a remake of When Worlds Collide is in fact in the works. Spielberg is producing it, and at least judging by the writing credits at IMDB, the source material appears to be the book rather than the George Pal movie.