Mexican researchers are to study the impact of apocalyptic interpretations of the ancient Mayan calendar, as in the recent US blockbuster movie "2012," on modern-day Mayan communities.

Experts will travel in March to southern Mexico and Guatemala to carry out research with priests in Mayan communities, amid fears that sects may capitalize on the theories to sway potential followers.

The recent movie directed by Roland Emmerich refers to Mayans and the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which was engraved on a stone discovered in Coba in southeast Mexico, and comes to end on December 21, 2012.