Will the world end in 2012?

DENVER - It's the end of the world, as we known it. Or so the song by R.E.M goes. With internet chatter, tons of websites, and a new Hollywood film, interest in a time still two years away is at an all time high.

The cause of the myth and confusion is the ancient Mayan calendar created two thousand years ago. It ends on December 21, 2012.

Colorado author, John Major Jenkins has written numerous books on the subject.

"I have visited sites (in Mexico) and there is a particular site that is really critical for understanding the 2012 question, because it's the place where the long count calendar was invented" he says.

"What I found there is the Mayans apparently found December 21st of 2012 interesting because of a very rare astronomical alignment is culminating around the years 2012"

The December sun slowly gets in alignment with the band of the Milky Way, that event is what has caused the speculation.

"My wallet says the world is not going to end in 2012" says Dr. Doug Duncan, Professor at CU Boulder.

He says because the alignment is actually not that rare and has been taking place since last year.

The internet and a new Hollywood big budget film are fueling the speculation and media attention. Jenkins says the entire debate is ironic because there is no evidence at all that the Maya predicted an Apocalypse or catastrophic doomsday in 2012.

That has not stopped Hollywood. 2012 starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet opens in theaters on Friday, November 13th. Yes, Friday the 13th.

But director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) says the prophecies were actually an afterthought in the film, adding " At first it was just a modern retelling of Noah's Ark - during our research we kept seeing 2012 so we incorporated that kind of phenomenon into the movie. "

The movie depicts a dramatic and violent end to the world, but actress Amanda Pete, who stars in the movie, said she thinks Emmerich's intention was to mirror some of the economic axiety and turmoil the world is feeling not make people more uneasy.

"I think the movie kind of provides a receptacle for that anxiety and in a way in the end it probably is partly his fantasy of what could happen if God forbid we had a catastrophe where nations would come together and it would become this great equalizer where there aren't divisions between nations and people," said Pete.

"I think Roland means for us to have a good time and for it to be a catharsis," she said.

Hollywood should hope the end doesn't come in 2012, because there wouldn't be any sequels.