Sony Pictures' $200 million popcorn-crunching, soda-gulping blockbuster '2012,' which opened nationwide last week, hopes to horrify movie-goers with the destruction of the world's iconic monuments in an apocalypse allegedly predicted by ancient Mayans. In this sci-fi thrilling account of Armageddon, director Roland Emmerich ('Independence Day,' 'The Day After Tomorrow') uses digital special effects to crack the Vatican in half, sear Yellowstone with volcanic lava, wash away the White House then slide a quaking California into the Pacific Ocean. Gigantic arks are involved, too, so you may need a refill on that soda. While some New Agers believe Mayans foresaw the end of the world on Dec. 21, 2012, Mayanist scholars say not to worry, calling such doomsday theorists 'fringe' and 'non-academic.' Besides, the Maya were naked-eye astronomers whose time-keeping was so accurate it rivaled that of the Gregorian calendar. Many were farmers, and their leadership birthed complex calendars, in this instance the Mayan Long Count, that may have signaled the end of a period of time, but not all time. Modern Maya, who live mostly in Mexico and Central America, might offer another bit of reassurance by way of a San Antonio anthropologist. Her Mayan compadres look forward to being represented on the big screen -- even when Hollywood gets it wrong. Jennifer Mathews, a Mayanist scholar at Trinity University, says the long count calendar, which stops at 2012, should be viewed as an odometer that turns over, or as the end of a millennium. Mathews said Mayans might have marked 2012 by erecting a stela, an upright stone monument, or perhaps a pyramid to commemorate the event. Mayan elders do consider 2012 a time of transformation, said Ed Barnhart, director of the Maya Exploration Center in Austin. But they wouldn't be readying for end of days. Sony Entertainment has hyped '2012' with a viral marketing campaign that includes a fake Institute for Human Continuity, with accompanying sites named This Is the End and Farewell Atlantis. NASA.gov was pulled into the fray. 'Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012,' the agency posted on its web site. 'Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.' Mesoamerican scholars say bits about the long count calendar and the Mayan mythology story of creation and destruction have been intertwined inaccurately. 'The two don't correlate,' Mathews said. Add to that, said UTSA Mayanist scholar M. Kathryn Brown, New Age philosophy that focuses on Mayan studies of the early 20th century, which viewed the society as utopian and peaceful, but ignores evidence to the contrary in Mayan hieroglyphics, is now better understood. Scholars note bits of truth in '2012.' Barnhart, who has been traveling the country giving lectures on the topic, said a polar reversal, depicted in the movie, can happen. But the Earth's magnetic poles won't reverse themselves and result in disaster. NASA scientists say a reversal 'is very unlikely' in the next few millennia. '2012' also suggests solar flares will bombard Earth. 'Some like to point out that this is coming out of NASA,' Barnhart said. 'Again, there's a nugget of truth. NASA is charting, on average, the peak of the cycles. Once every 11 years, solar flares happen, and that peak is somewhere near 2012.' But where giant fireballs are imagined, Barnhart said it's more likely to be 'a burst of solar radiation,' affecting communication satellites and increasing the incidence of skin cancer. 'But they won't cook anybody.' Barnhart wouldn't entertain another theory about Earthlings receiving telepathic signals from Planet X about an apocalypse. But NASA.gov calmly describes 'threats' from planets called Nibiru or Eris as Internet hoaxes. While Brown said most will see '2012' as fiction, there's some evidence at least a minority will 'buy into' a Y2K-like panic. Barnhart theorizes, not so scientifically, about why the year and movie have aroused so much interest. 'Everybody loves an apocalypse,' he said, and when in doubt, the curious look to ancient wisdom. 'But the Mayan never said anything of an apocalypse,' Barnhart said. 'This is a Western thing being pasted onto the Mayan calendar.' If there is shock to be absorbed, scholars said it may be that people don't know Mayans still exist. 'There are at least 15 million Mayans,' said Barnhart, whose group organizes trips to Mexico and Central America. 'Eighty percent of Guatemalans are Mayan.' They've not followed the long count calendar for more than 500 years, he said, but are reconsidering it and other ancient wisdom. Internet access and the Western world's fascination with them might have helped spur that interest. Scholars are thankful for one potential outcome of the movie: more students with an interest in Mesoamerica. Movies, such as '2012,' are 'what get butts in my classroom,' Mathews said. 'So I can't be completely critical.' 