IT IS a monster of a movie, boasting epic computer-generated effects of entire coastlines crumpling, sets built with movable floors to simulate earthquakes and a US$200 million (S$278 million) budget.

But the star of 2012, which opens in Singapore on Thursday is not a Hollywood A-lister.

The actor assigned to save the world is indie stalwart John Cusack, who is better known for his work in films such as the cult romantic comedy Say Anything (1989) and the Oscar-nominated dramedy Being John Malkovich (1999).

The film also stars Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

German director and co-writer Roland Emmerich says the choice of leading man was deliberate. Talking to reporters at a press event at The Ritz Carlton in Cancun, Mexico, he says of Cusack: 'He's intelligent and funny and still a down-to-earth guy and that?s a great combination. That he is that, is totally perfect for this movie.'

Amid ambient bird calls and gurgling forest water sounds in the ballroom which had been decorated to look like a tropical rainforest, he adds: 'You wouldn't want to have a person like Mel Gibson or Kevin Costner in one of those movies because they would so clearly overshadow every other character. They are a star pedigree at the very beginning of the movie.'

Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times' LIFE!.