Actor John Cusack is set to star in the lead role of Roland Emmerich’s upcoming apocalyptic action spectacle “2012,” according to Variety. Chiwetel Ejiofor is also in negotiations to join the project.

Written by Emmerich and Harald Kloser, the film focuses on the end of the world as predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar. The plot follows a group of survivors struggling with the large-scale cataclysm.

Emmerich previously collaborated with Kloser on the screenplay for his recent epic “10,000 B.C.” Heading into production this summer, “2012” is slated for July 10, 2009.

Cusack previously starred in Menno Meyjes’ drama “Martian Child.” He can next be seen in Joshua Seftel’s political satire “War, Inc.”

Ejiofor is currently onscreen in David Mamet’s latest thriller “Redbelt.”