End-of-the-world and post-apocalyptic movies are all the rage

It’s been a big summer for movies about the end of the world and survival after the apocalypse.
Tom Cruise starred in “Oblivion,” which takes place 60 years after Earth has been ravaged by an alien attack.
Will Smith and his son starred in the box office bomb “After Earth,” which is set 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity to flee the planet.
Seth Rogen and friends faced the apocalypse in the hit comedy “This Is the End.”
Anna Kendrick and Craig Robinson starred in the comedy “Rapture-Palooza,” which depicts the Christian Rapture and its impact on those left behind.
And Brad Pitt starred in the zombie apocalypse movie “World War Z.”
More cinematic destruction and desolation awaits.
Up next is “Pacific Rim,” where the world is under attack by giant sea creatures. It opens July 12.
The Simon Pegg alien-invasion comedy “The World’s End” is set to open Aug. 23.
“The Colony,” a drama set during the next ice age, is scheduled to open Sept. 20. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton.
Another drama set in the next ice age, “Snowpiercer,” also is due out this year. It stars Tilda Swinton and Chris Evans.
Scheduled for release next year is “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”
In production is “Z for Zachariah,” which takes place after a nuclear war. It stars Chris Pine and Amanda Seyfried.
Hollywood also has a couple of robot apocalypse movies in the works, as well as more zombie apocalypse flicks.

See also: List of post-apocalyptic movies.