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‘San Andreas: 3D’ -- a ‘2012’ for 2012?

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EXCLUSIVE: Maybe it’s the wind that’s been rattling the windows here in Los Angeles, but when we heard about the new earthquake disaster movie “San Andreas: 3D,” it seemed … prescient. But hopefully not too prescient.

Written by the veteran Hollywood screenwriter Allan Loeb (“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” “21”) (based on, we should note, an idea and early draft from the writers Jeremy Passmore & Andre Fabrizio), the heretofore unreported project is about the Big One: that mother of all rollers that stretches from California to Nevada first along the fault line of its title and then beyond, leaving plenty of destruction behind.

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The movie is being produced by Beau Flynn, the man behind sweeping action movies like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and the upcoming “Red Dawn” remake. New Line is developing the film, which is currently seeking directors, according to a person who was briefed on the movie but not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The 40-ish Loeb has a lot of scripts under his belt –- he’s written broad comedies (“Just Go With It”) musicals (“Rock of Ages”) and big action movies, like the development-snagged “Escape From New York” remake.

Although he’s never written a disaster film, there’s a lot of escape in this new movie - -the 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 a la John Cusack’s character in “2012.” (According to a person who’s read the script, the ‘San Andreas’ hero makes the trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco using some rather, er, unconventional transportation.)

Though they don’t exactly win Oscars, disaster movies are a timeless staple ands big global earners (‘2012’ made more than $750 million around the world, enough to support an entire Mayan civilization). And this one, of course, could be in 3-D.

Centuries ago some people believed gale-force winds could foretell earthquakes. Here’s hoping the winds foretell only earthquake movies.

-- Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

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