Star Wars creator George Lucas was just kidding when he chatted with Seth Rogen about the Mayan prophecy of an apocalypse in 2012. But that hasn't stopped news sites from regurgitating Rogen's weird report that Lucas truly believes the end is near.

Even The Washington Post's Celebritology 2.0 blog got in on the action Wednesday, with a post headlined, "Does George Lucas Think the World Will End in 2012?"

While the question mark might indeed be the blogger's best friend, the answer to the query is a resounding "no."

"I spoke with George," said Lucasfilm rep Lynne Hale in an e-mail to Wired.com about this issue of obvious intergalactic importance.

"He was not serious when he talked about the end of the world in 2012 but he is an adamant believer that the world is flat, that Stonehenge was built by aliens, and that the sun revolves around the Earth," Hale said. "These are among the many subjects he commonly discusses at length with Elvis, who he's going to digitally insert into Indy 5 along with a roster of famous dead actors."

While Lucas and his associates clearly have a sense of humor about the rumor's wildfire propagation, Rogen was reportedly "left stunned" by Lucas' comments during a meeting that was also attended by Steven Spielberg, according to The Toronto Sun story that set the rumor mill buzzing.

"George Lucas sits down and seriously proceeds to talk for around 25 minutes about how he thinks the world is gonna end in the year 2012, like, for real. He thinks it," Rogen told the paper. "I first thought he was joking ... and then I totally realized he was serious and then I started thinking, 'If you're George Lucas and you actually think the world is gonna end in a year, there's no way you haven't built a spaceship for yourself.... So I asked him..., 'Can I have a seat on it?'"

The Green Hornet actor might well have been joking about the whole thing, too, and the blogosphere is clearly not going to let a little reporting get in the way of a thousand weaselly headlines. But one thing's for sure: Rogen's not getting a seat on Lucas' rocket ship if doomsday hits next year.

"Seth Rogen is a funny guy," Lucasfilm's Hale said, "but George and Steven are taking Chris Rock with them on the Millennium Falcon!"

Photo: bananawacky/Flickr

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