Asteroid Clara: The Director's Cut

"The world ends"

- Tagline

"An asteroid bigger than Mount Everest! Toppling Tokyo Tower and Empire State Building, burning our cities to dust! An apocalypse that could happen in reality!"

- Japanese tagline

"Mankind has only three months, can Clara warn the world and prevent the end of the world from happening?"

- Official trailer

"An astronomer attempts to warn the world of an impending asteroid impact that will destroy human civilization."

- Official synopsis

""Maggie" star Rebecca Rittenhouse gives us another prediction regarding our future; the end of the world! Inspired by real events, a large asteroid could be on its way to destroy our planet!"

- U.S. press synopsis

Asteroid Clara: The Director's Cut (or simply Asteroid Clara) is a 2026 Japanese-Philippine disaster drama film co-produced by Toho and GMA Pictures. It is a heavily re-edited version of the 2020 film #JusticeForLove: End of the World.

Directed by Gina Alajar, and starring Rebecca Rittenhouse as the film's titular character, with Max Collins and Yasmien Kurdi, the film's story focuses on the discovery of a 10-kilometer asteroid on a collision course with Earth, and a depressed woman's attempt to reunite with her mother in Manila before the inevitable end of mankind.

First conceptualized in 2013 following the Chelyabinsk meteor event, the film was adapted from the screenplay of The Last War, and inspired by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, also incorporating elements from the Philippine drama genre.

The film focuses more on the importance of asteroid impact avoidance rather than the original version's use of overlapping themes, following the success of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, the first ever attempt on deflecting an asteroid.

With the upcoming release of the American remake of #JusticeForLove: End of the World on December 25, 2026, along with dissatisfaction from Rebecca Rittenhouse and Gabriella Wilde regarding their characters in the film, Toho decided to release a revised version to be released jointly alongside the American remake.

The film was given a limited theatrical release on November 3, 2026, coinciding Godzilla's 72nd anniversary, and was followed by an international release on home media as a double-feature with the American remake.

Description
"After predicting people's futures as a psychic in the comedy series "Maggie", Rebecca Rittenhouse returns on predicting the future as an astronomer in this sci-fi disaster film directed by Gina Alajar: In 2020, Clara Young (Rebecca Rittenhouse) discovers a huge asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth, that will destroy human civilization. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Mylene (Max Collins) accidentally rescues Alicia (Yasmien Kurdi) who is about to commit suicide, after losing everything she had in a series of unfortunate events. With only three months left, Alicia attempts to reunite with her mother in Manila, while Clara must warn the world of the impending catastrophe as mankind prepares for the inevitable end."

Plot
The film begins in 1984, when two paleontologists had discovered that extinction events in Earth's history has been occurring periodically, while a NASA scientist warned that the planet is unprepared for any asteroid impact event. The film then cuts to an introductory sequence depicting the technological advancement of mankind along with timelapse shots of human civilization.

In present day San Francisco, Alicia Salvacion begins to suffer from depression after losing her husband and her newborn baby in a streetcar accident, and attempts to commit suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge. She is rescued by Mylene Concepcion, that arrived in the city only to reunite with her younger sister, Andrea. Mylene promises to help Alicia recover from her depression, which resulted in the two becoming friends.

Meanwhile, astronomer Clara Young is studying near-Earth objects at an observatory when one night, an unidentified object is discovered, which turns out to be an asteroid. She spends the next three days for additional observations, and after discovering the asteroid's calculated orbit, she realizes that the object is 10-kilometers wide, and is on a collision course with Earth, large enough to trigger an extinction-level event.

Young informs the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) regarding her discovery, and the object is given the provisional designation "2020 NA" by the Minor Planet Center, while other astronomers began calling the asteroid after its discoverer. Rather than announcing the threat, the United States government decided to conceal the asteroid's existence to the public, due to high anticipation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In Tokyo, a small asteroid fragment destroys a large portion of the city and forcing the 2020 Olympics to be cancelled. Young discovers that smaller fragments were responsible, and insists that the world should be informed regarding the threat, but the government still refuses to reveal the impending doom by assuring the destruction of Tokyo was an isolated incident.

Andrea realizes that she's in danger after she discovers that her fiancé, Gregorio, is involved in organized crime throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and attempts to warn Mylene. Gregorio threatens Andrea of killing Mylene if she attempts to escape from him. For the safety of her own sister, Andrea is forced to agree Gregorio's condition of staying with him.

Alicia begins to experience frequent headache and dizziness, and at one point losing consciousness. Lorraine "Lori" Jones, a renowned investigator and one of Alicia's friends, decides to bring Alicia to a hospital, in which she is diagnosed with internal bleeding in her brain, and has only less than a year left to live. Alicia considers about returning to Manila to reunite with her mother, Romina, and spend her last few months there.

Following a failed attempt to rescue Andrea from Gregorio, Mylene's friend Olivia Imperial was murdered in an attempt to frame Mylene. The next day, Mylene is arrested, while Gregorio finally escapes San Francisco. Realizing that Mylene is in the same situation that she experienced before, Alicia is forced to stay in San Francisco to help Mylene clear her name, with additional support from Lori.

Young discovers another asteroid fragment, which is projected to impact somewhere in Northern California. She attempts to warn the citizens of the San Francisco Bay Area, but the government prohibited her from making any public appearances. As a result, she is unable to warn people regarding the impending disaster. The object then impacts San Francisco, levelling most of the Bay Area and killing Andrea in the process.

At the same time, Mylene's court trial finally takes place in Sacramento, in which Mylene is acquitted for murder and proven innocent. However, Mylene is later informed regarding her sister's death in San Francisco, and mourns her death in Sacramento. Afterwards, Mylene begins to notice Alicia's worsening health condition, and she finally discovers Alicia's internal bleeding in her brain.

However, Alicia's remaining life is reduced from 7 months to only 2 months, forcing her to finally return to the Philippines with Romina's sister Corazon, to spend her remaining time with her mother, but it is too late, as Alicia and Corazon find out that Romina had already died only a few hours before their arrival in Manila.

With the asteroid becoming visible to the naked eye and the destruction of San Francisco from another fragment, the United Nations finally reveals the asteroid's existence to the public. The United States government makes a public apology to Young, also announcing their plan on deflecting the asteroid by launching intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) together with Russia.

Mylene decides to stay in Sacramento with her husband and son, while Lori listens to Jessica's advice of abandoning her investigation. Young returns on making public appearances on television as the discoverer of the asteroid. In Manila, Alicia begins to blame Mylene for her mother's death, and immediately regrets her decision to stay in San Francisco.

On October 5, approximately five days before impact, the ICBMs were launched, but failed to deflect the asteroid, which remains on a collision course with Earth. The government announces the failure of the mission in an emergency broadcast, while Young announces the asteroid's final trajectory, which shows that the asteroid will impact somewhere in western Europe on October 10.

Around the globe, society quickly breaks down as widespread panic occurs. Meanwhile, Alicia's health condition continues to worsen, and realizing the end of mankind is now inevitable, Alicia finally accepts her ultimate fate, and decides to visit some of her former relatives for the last time, including her ex-husband Nathan, now married to Lynette, and her supportive best friend Eileen, now promoted to a hotel manager in Baguio City.

Young, Alicia, and Mylene all spend their final moments on Earth before the global firestorm could reach them. Young is dismayed, despite years of studying asteroids, mankind had failed to prevent the incoming catastrophe, and is now about to meet the same fate as the dinosaurs. Alicia finally forgives Mylene for blaming her, before eventually wishing for a second chance to start anew, by being able to reunite with her loved ones in the afterlife.

The asteroid finally makes impact in central France, just east of Paris, triggering a global firestorm that slowly engulfs the planet, instantly obliterating cities in its path, including New York City. It reaches the Himalayas, melting the glaciers due to increasing temperature, then Panama, destroying its diverse biodiversity.

Alicia and Corazon embrace their deaths as the global firestorm approaches Manila, obliterating the city and its landmarks in the process, including the Torre de Manila, Quezon Memorial Shrine, Manila City Hall, and the Metrobank Center. London and Athens are shown left burning to ruins as the global firestorm finally engulfs the Earth only 14 hours after impact.

30 years later, only the remnants of human civilization remain. Sydney, Mexico City, and Chicago are all shown in complete ruins, as the entire surface of the Earth has been rendered uninhabitable by the effects of impact winter. Alicia is seen reuniting with her loved ones in the afterlife, signifying her wish of giving her a second chance to start anew was granted.

The film ends on a shot of a ruined San Francisco, with a disclaimer message stating that the events depicted is a work of fiction that could one day become reality. Only by working together can mankind avoid this terrible fate.

Cast

 * ''All cast members are credited under their real names.

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
 * Rebecca Rittenhouse as Clara Young
 * An astronomer who is studying near-Earth objects, that would later discover the asteroid that threatens Earth.


 * Isabelle Abiera as Mylene Concepcion
 * First time arriving in San Francisco only to reunite with Andrea, she accidentally meets Alicia and later helps her recover from her depression.


 * Yasmien Kurdi as Alicia Salvacion
 * After losing her family in a streetcar accident, she begins to suffer from depression and attempts to commit suicide, but she is rescued by Mylene.


 * Rose Byrne as Lorraine "Lori" Jones
 * A renowned investigator, she is tasked by the federal government to investigate Gregorio Soriano.


 * Jay Manalo as Gregorio Soriano
 * Andrea's fiancé and the CEO of Soriano Industries.


 * Gabriella Wilde as Jessica Morgan
 * Lori's best friend that lives in San Francisco.


 * Mariam Al-Alawi as Andrea Concepcion
 * Mylene's younger sister.


 * Gineb Macalinao as Corazon Salvacion
 * Romina's sister and Alicia's only relative in California.


 * Rosario Rodriguez as Romina Salvacion
 * Alicia's mother.


 * Jade Lopez as Stephanie "Steffi" Perez
 * Mylene's supportive best friend and a local news reporter.


 * Ysabel Ortega as Olivia Imperial
 * A protective friend of Mylene and Andrea.

Additionally, Therlyn Alcuitas portrays Eileen Salcedo, Alicia's supportive best friend in the Philippines. Mikael Daez portrays Nathan Castillo, Alicia's ex-husband. Kris Bernal portrays Lynette, Nathan's current wife. Caprice Cayetano and Seth dela Cruz both portray Corazon's twin children.

Scenes featuring Martin del Rosario, Empress Schuck, Jason Abalos, and Dion Ignacio were removed. Raymond Bagatsing and Kit Thompson still does not appear in this version.

Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
 * Directed by Gina Alajar
 * Produced by Darling Pulido-Torres, Shusuke Kaneko
 * Screenplay by Ryuhei Kitamura, Masato Kato
 * Story by Des Garbes-Severino, Maria Zita S. Garganera, Suzette Doctolero
 * Adapted from the screenplay of The Last War written by Toshio Yasumi
 * Inspired by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event
 * Music by Shiro Sagisu
 * Cinematography by Kosuke Yamada, Taro Kawazu
 * Edited by Hiroshi Okuda
 * Special effects by Eiichi Asada, Makoto Kamiya

Locations

 * United States
 * San Francisco
 * Sacramento
 * New York City
 * Chicago
 * Philippines
 * Manila
 * Japan
 * Tokyo
 * France
 * Paris
 * Nepal
 * Himalayas
 * Panama
 * Panama Canal
 * United Kingdom
 * London
 * Greece
 * Athens
 * Australia
 * Sydney
 * Mexico
 * Mexico City

Weapons, vehicles, and races

 * 2020 NA (Clara)

Alternate titles

 * Clara: The Asteroid That Ended The World (Japanese title)
 * Asteroid Clara (Official international title)
 * 2020 Catastrophe: Asteroid Clara (Alternate international title)
 * Justice for Love Presents: Asteroid Clara (early international title)

As #JusticeForLove: End of the World
After the 2006 remake of Sinking of Japan recieved criticism for its ridiculous and unrealistic plot, Japanese studio Toho, known for the Godzilla franchise, approached Shusuke Kaneko on producing another science fiction film while the Godzilla franchise was placed on a ten-year hiatus. Kaneko is known for Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, which attracted unprecedented critical acclaim for a kaiju film, and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the 25th installment of the Godzilla franchise. At the time, there was no consensus on what will be the film's main premise, due to the renewed popularity of disaster and sci-fi films, including the upcoming releases of The Day the Earth Stood Still and 2012 in 2008 and 2009, respectively. On February 15, 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteor event took place over Chelyabinsk Oblast in Russia. Due to the incident, interest in asteroid impact events have drawn renewed attention, while the film's concept was then finalized on visualizing the possible effects of a large asteroid impact, a rarity in the disaster film genre, as most films that had previously been released usually end with Earth being saved from the catastrophe. It was decided from the outset that it would be clear from the beginning that the asteroid threat must be depicted as if it were a real event, and to show the entire world would actually end in the film, due to sci-fi films lacking respect from film critics. In order to achieve this, the filmmakers took inspiration and influences from real impact events that took place in Earth's history.

The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event served as the main inspiration for the film, which is known for wiping out the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago, following the impact of a 10 to 15 kilometer asteroid in the Gulf of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Other impact events that served inspiration included the 1908 Tunguska event, and the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor event. Beyond impact events, pseudoscientific concepts were also used as influences for the film, from the Nemesis & Shiva hypothesis, to the Nibiru cataclysm.

Pre-production only began in 2019, as the project went into development hell for several years due to Toho focusing on reviving the Godzilla series, following the release of the 2014 American reboot film by Legendary Pictures. The film became a co-production with Philippine studio GMA Pictures following the success of 2018's The Return of Godzilla, the first Godzilla film that was co-produced by Toho with a Philippine film studio. GMA Pictures has a different concept in mind, however, as they opted to produce a film focusing on relationships instead of a sci-fi disaster film. Both studios later agreed to merge the two concepts into one.

GMA Pictures hired Gina Alajar as the film's director, with the story written by Des Garbes-Severino, Maria Zita S. Garganera, and Suzette Doctolero, while Toho hired Ryuhei Kitamura and Masato Kato to write the film's screenplay. Doctolero added elements from the Philippine drama genre, such as adding a depressed woman and her sibling obsessed in seeking revenge, into the film. Doctolero was influenced by previous work including Hiram na Anak, Bihag, and especially Rhodora X. Alajar wanted to produce a movie that is character-driven instead of the usual plot-based stories, and as a result, the entire film is shown from only one perspective, while minimizing or completely removing the other perspectives of the film.

Yasmien Kurdi was cast as Alicia Salvacion, a depressed woman that suffered through a series of unfortunate events. The character was written specifically for Kurdi, as Alajar already knew Kurdi's potential as an prominent drama actress, as shown from her previous work in Sa Piling ni Nanay and Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka. Alajar would later praise Kurdi following the film's success, and after both of them were cast in Start-Up PH two years later. Max Collins was cast only due to her birthplace being San Francisco, the film's main setting. Rebecca Rittenhouse was cast as an astronomer, who would discover the asteroid. While all of her scenes were filmed, she does not appear in the finished film, due to the removal of additional perspectives in favor of entirely focusing on Alicia's perspective.

The rest of the cast were added later, including Martin del Rosario as Alicia's younger brother, Rose Byrne as an investigator, Ivana Alawi as Mylene's younger sister, Jade Lopez as a reporter, Ysabel Ortega as one of Mylene's friends, Jean Garcia as Alicia's mother, Lovely Rivero as Romina's sister, and Gabriella Wilde as Lori's friend in San Francisco. Additional cast include Empress Schuck, Jay Manalo, Reese Tuazon, Mikael Daez, and Kris Bernal. Some of the cast prepared for their roles in the film, including watching disaster films as reference. For her role in the film, Rittenhouse consulted various astronomers, and also instructed to watch documentaries regarding astronomy and the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction, as Rittenhouse had no previous experience on sci-fi disaster films.

Principal photography began on August 2019, and ended in May 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic forced filming to be suspended temporarily. Most of the film was shot in San Francisco, while some scenes were also filmed in Manila and Sacramento. Filming locations in San Francisco included the Embarcadero, Telegraph Hill, North Beach, and Pacific Heights. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District only allowed filming for one scene on the Golden Gate Bridge, after discovering from the script that the film also contained a destruction scene of the bridge.

For the streetcar accident scene, the filmmakers had to apply several permits from San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) to use their F Market streetcar line in the film. A small portion of Market Street had to be closed for several days. The filmmakers initially requested for a PCC streetcar, but Muni refused and decided to use one of their own rolling stock, Car No. 130, which was taken out of service after 2010. Operations on the F Market line was not affected during filming, as service was temporarily suspended from March 2020 to May 2021 due to the pandemic.

A destruction scene of Tokyo was later added during post-production, replacing the original scene which takes place in South Africa. The Tokyo Tower prop used in the film was based from the one built for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. 16 years ago. The scene was completely shot in the Toho lot. A majority of the miniatures were built at 1:33 scale while the Tokyo Tower prop is scaled up to 1:20 scale. Unlike the other destruction scenes in the film, which were portrayed by CGI, the destruction of Tokyo was portrayed in the traditional manner, using miniatures that were blown up by real explosives. This was done as a tribute to Toho's previous films that used a similar method. For the main impact scene in the climax, there is still some debate within the scientific community regarding the firestorm effects during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction. The filmmakers discussed ways to combine scientific facts with fictional elements, the latter being for entertainment purposes, for the firestorm sequence. The final result is a compromise; after the asteroid's impact with Earth, it triggered a rapidly expanding wave of intense heat and thick hot smoke that moves faster than the speed of sound, vaporizing anything it touches in its path. It is described by visual effects supervisor Atsuki Sato as a "literal wall of fire".

A miniature scale model of the Empire State Building was also used during the destruction of New York City, but it is not specified in which scale the model was built, but it is presumed to be built in 1:20 scale just like with the Tokyo Tower prop. Additional footage of Sacramento being engulfed by the global firestorm and a destruction scene of Los Angeles by another asteroid fragment was filmed and included in the film's international trailer, but does not appear anywhere in the film itself.

The effects of impact winter is accurately portrayed in the film's climax, but the duration was exaggerated, however, as the scene takes place 30 years after the asteroid's impact, while in reality, the resulting impact winter from the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction possibly lasted for only a decade.

Early concept
"I want to make a movie about relationships, probably a family drama or a love story. I love character-driven rather than plot-based stories. Given a choice, I prefer experimental to formulaic movies. I would be happy tackling realism, be it neo, social or magic!"

- Gina Alajar, director of #JusticeForLove: End of the World

In an interview with Gabriella Wilde in 2021, it is revealed that there is enough footage for a four-hour version of #JusticeForLove: End of the World, resulting in almost 1 hour and 30 minutes of footage being cut during post-production. A year later, during in an interview for Maggie, Rebecca Rittenhouse mentioned being cast for a "sci-fi disaster film" that ultimately went unused.

On December 24, 2021, Don't Look Up was released on Netflix internationally. Its director, producer, and writer, Adam McKay, was certainly aware of the production of #JusticeForLove: End of the World, and influenced him to include a character based on Rittenhouse's cut character into his own film, with Jennifer Lawrence being cast for the role. McKay wrote the character specifically for Lawrence.

On April 2024, Roland Emmerich was announced as the director for an upcoming American remake of #JusticeForLove: End of the World, with a planned 2026 release. In an attempt to renew attention on the original film, and as a response to the issues mentioned by both Wilde and Rittenhouse, Japanese studio Toho decided to release a revised version of the film, to be released jointly alongside the upcoming American remake.

Post-production
In the revised version, the film's story now focuses on Rittenhouse's character, while Mylene and Alicia's story was minimized by removing several important scenes and characters, including removing the streetcar accident scene, and removing Ethan's revenge subplot completely. Scenes featuring Cristina Alvarez and Mylene's family were also removed.

Footage from the 2022 short film The Final Moments by GMA Pictures was also used for Alicia and Corazon's death scene, and the destruction of Manila and the rest of the Philippine archipelago.

Release
The film was given a limited theatrical release on November 3, 2026 in the United States, coinciding Godzilla's 72nd anniversary. The film earned more than $3 million during its initial theatrical run.

Following the theatrical release of the American remake, the film was later released direct-to-video internationally, on DVD and Blu-ray, as a double-feature with Justice for the End of the World.

Reception
Compared to #JusticeForLove: End of the World, the revised version received mixed to negative reviews from critics. The visual effects and the film's theme were praised, but the film was criticized for minimizing Kurdi's role, underwritten human characters, and extremely long running time. The revised version is noted to be "inferior" to the original.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 40% based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 3.40/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 29 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed to negative reviews".

Video releases
Toho DVD/Blu-ray (2027)
 * Region: 1 & 2
 * Discs: 4
 * Audio: Tagalog (3.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital for DVD, 3.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio for Blu-ray)
 * Subtitles: English, Japanese
 * Special features: Footage from previsualization and storyboards (24 minutes), VFX breakdown (30 minutes); general behind-the-scenes featurette (15 minutes)
 * Notes: Packaged with Justice for the End of the World.

Videos

 * -|Clips=