In 2009, while visiting a colleague in India, geologist Adrian Helmsley learns that solar flares are now causing neutrinos to emit microwaves. This is rapidly heating Earth's core, leading to potentially disastrous consequences for the planet. He hurries back to the United States and alerts Anheuser, the White House chief of staff, who informs the president. Following this, Adrian becomes part of the president’s team and is asked to develop a timeline outlining potential future events over the coming years. By 2012, it emerges that the president has ordered the construction of eight large arks designed to house 800,000 people selected based on their DNA, expertise, and scientific knowledge. World leaders are also aware of this plan and begin making selections. Meanwhile, Jackson Curtis is in Los Angeles picking up his children from his ex-wife Kate (who lives with her partner Gordon). He takes them to Yellowstone National Park, where they are subsequently taken by the military and meet Adrian, who tells them that Yellowstone is experiencing difficulties and therefore not allowing tourists. They also encounter Charlie Frost, who runs a radio station and informs Jackson that the world will soon end. He mentions that a large group of people will be allowed onto “spacecrafts,” and he knows their location. At his ex-wife’s request, Jackson returns his children to L.A., where he learns that an earthquake has caused a massive fissure in the Earth's surface. It becomes clear at the White House that Adrian’s timeline is progressing faster than anticipated; the core heat has made the mantle more fluid, causing the Earth's crust to shift. They also discover that only four arks will be ready on time. Jackson is called upon to drive and transport the children of Russian billionaire Yuri Karpov to the airport. One of the sons inadvertently reveals they are destined to survive the disaster while Jackson is not. Armed with this information, and what he’d already heard from Charlie, Jackson realizes that catastrophic events are imminent and drives back to L.A. to collect his family. He uses an aircraft, and Gordon, who is an amateur pilot, ends up having to fly it when their designated pilot dies. As they take off, the Curtis family witnesses the complete destruction of Los Angeles as the crust shifts and the city disappears into the Pacific Ocean. At the White House, Adrian is told that the shifting Earth’s crust has triggered hundreds of earthquakes, resulting in 2 million casualties. President Wilson orders his staff to quickly board an aircraft bound for China, where the spacecraft are located. He also reveals he will not be joining them, as someone needs to inform the rest of the world about the impending end of days and believes he is the person for that task. Adrian then boards an Air Force One with Anheuser and other staff members. Jackson realizes they need to find the location of the spacecrafts if they want to survive, so he convinces Gordon to fly to Yellowstone and locate Charlie in order to obtain this information. While Gordon refuels the plane, Jackson finds Charlie, who tells him that a map is located in his camper. Jackson narrowly escapes as the volcano beneath Yellowstone suddenly erupts. The family evades the ash clouds by flying away just in time. The map reveals they must head for China, and they eventually land in Las Vegas to refuel where they encounter Yuri and his family whose plane has crashed. Yuri’s pilot, Sascha, takes control of an old Antonov An-225 but requires a co-pilot, allowing the Curtis family and Gordon to join them. They intend to land in Hawaii for more fuel but find that it has been transformed into a volcanic region. Forced to continue flying, Sascha predicts they will crash into the Pacific Ocean within 15 minutes. As he breaks through the clouds, he sees that where the ocean should be, there is now a large mass of ice. Jackson realizes that the crust-shifting theory is actually true. They crash onto a glacier, and Sascha dies. They are subsequently found by Chinese troops transporting animals to the spacecrafts. The soldiers take Yuri and his children aboard while showing their tickets. As a result, the Curtis family, Gordon, and Yuri’s friend Tamara (who did not have a ticket) are left behind. In China, near the arks, it becomes apparent that the roof of one ark has collapsed due to crustal shifting, and Laura and Adrian realize that the passengers were not selected based on DNA or scientific merit but that wealthy individuals had purchased their access – they paid 1 billion euros per ticket. Adrian receives a call from his Indian colleague who informs him that India is about to be overwhelmed by a gigantic tsunami, which will reach them sooner than planned. This prompts Anheuser to make the decision to close the ark gates early, leaving tens of thousands of people, including Yuri and his sons, stranded. Jackson and his family are picked up by a Tibetan monk on his way to board an ark. His brother smuggles them into one through the machine room, and Jackson realizes that the arks are not spacecrafts but rather floating shelters. They become trapped when the gates drop at Adrian’s order, who wants to let the stranded people in. Gordon is crushed between gears and dies, and a drill bit also becomes lodged between the engines, preventing the gate from closing completely. Yuri manages to get his children aboard just as he falls from the platform and dies. With the gate unable to close fully, the crew cannot start the engines. The tsunami rapidly approaches, and water begins flooding the lower decks, forcing passengers to wade through it. Jackson and his family are separated when waterproof doors seal off different compartments. They end up in separate areas. Adrian sees via cameras that Jackson has made it aboard and rushes to the compartments to rescue him and his family. Tamara, alone, drowns as the water rises. Jackson learns from Adrian that the compartments can only be opened once the drill bit is removed from the engines and the system is restored

Source on TMDB