15 Fascinating Premises That Were Bigger Than The Movies Themselves

12. Knowing

The Premise: Professor John Koestler finds a time capsule with fulfilled prophecies in it, the last of which pertains to the pending apocalypse. It was a brave decision for Nicolas Cage to take on a role in The Knowing; so many believe his career to be littered with inconsistency, and a disaster movie isn't a safe choice. Describing The Knowing on paper is an easy sell, though; it's an intriguing plot, and rather unusually, the hero knows about the disaster in advance, rather than having to run away from the plants/lava/asteroid as it decimates the planet. There's so much that can be explored with that idea that Koestler can basically see into the future, but unfortunately, the film didn't live up to that expectation. In the end, a solar flare hits the Earth, killing everyone. It was a disappointing end for many - especially given that a solar flare hitting Earth could never actually happen - but Cage defended his role in the film, claiming that he didn't need to research how to play an astrophysicist, as he'd lived with a literary professor.