The story begins with Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart), a geologist who predicts that the Earth's core has stopped rotating, causing the planet's magnetic field to collapse. As a result, the Earth's rotation becomes unstable, threatening to destroy the planet. A team of scientists, including Dr. Keyes, Dr. Kate Forster (Charlize Theron), and Dr. Virgil Breddock (Djimon Hounsou), assemble to drill to the center of the Earth and restart the core.