When I first saw the news of a San Andreas film, I admit that my first thought was that it would be connected to the Grand Theft Auto gaming franchise, but I was entirely wrong. Rather, New Line are planning on making San Andreas: 3D a disaster film in the vein of 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, with the title referring instead to the well-known San Andreas fault, 24 Frames report.

According to Wikipedia (because my knowledge of geography-related issues is somewhat limited), in real life, the fault line has been the site of several notable earthquakes in the past century and a half, ranging from a magnitude of 6.0 to 7.9 since 1857. A 2006 study by Yuri Fialko also reported that the fault’s conditions are at the point where the next Big One could occur at any time now, which is certainly a scary thought, and noted that whereas the northern and central sections of the fault have seen massive earthquakes in recent times, the southern section, an area that would affect LA, Orange County, and San Diego, to name but a few densely populated areas, hasn’t seen a similar-scaled earthquake in at least 300 years.

This is all just a bit of background to reality, though, and serves as a possible jumping off point for the film, with the official plot currently being at a bare minimum. The film has at its core the realization of this next Big One, to be led by a hero in the style of John Cusack/2012. San Andreas has been scripted by Allan Loeb (21, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), and will be produced by Beau Flynn, whose credits include Requiem For A Dream, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and the upcoming Red Dawn remake and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.

According to an unnamed source who’s read the script,

“[T]he hero is forced to go on the road to reconcile with his children and his estranged wife, who’s moved away and taken up with another man… [T]he “San Andreas” hero makes the trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco using some rather, er, unconventional transportation.”

A director is currently being sought, and hopefully this one can get moving quickly. Disaster movies may not be high up on people’s Films of the Year by year’s end, but they certainly often find success at the box office, and a 3D disaster film set in California could make for great viewing on the big screen. More news as we get it.