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Roland Emmerich Wants The Independence Day Sequels To Be Lovable

Date: Sep 11, 2012 | Author: Rudie Obias | Category: Sci-Fi

The highest grossing movie of 1996 was Roland Emmerich’s summer blockbuster Independence Day. This film defined what a summer blockbuster would be for years to come. Things have changed since 1996, though, and now summer blockbusters are expected to be in 3D. Unsurprisingly, 20th Century Fox, the studio behind Independence Day, is getting set to re-release the all-star disaster film in 3D, on July 3rd next summer. The studio also has plans to release its upcoming sequel films in 3D, despite Emmerich’s opposition to the 3D technology itself.

The plan is to shoot the sequel films, ID Forever: Part One and ID Forever: Part Two, back-to-back and then up-convert them to 3D. So just add 3D to those terrible titles. Emmerich’s co-writer and producer, Dean Devlin, says they have the “right idea” and it’s “quite unique.” Both Emmerich and Devlin are staying close-lipped about the project because they still need to sign the principle actors, including Jeff Goldblum, Will Smith, and Bill Pullman, in order to make the sequels worthwhile.

In an interview with Total Film, Devlin disclosed their approach to making the next installments of Independence Day. He says that the secret ingredient to Independence Day’s success was its “loveable” tone. Devlin continues:

The thing that really hit me about the movie is how much love there is in it: between the characters; that the filmmakers had making it; that the cast had for each other. As we’re approaching a sequel we’re focusing on that aspect of it. Because I think that was really the key as to why it worked for everyone. It was lovable.

The cast of the original Independence Day was indeed easy to like, and that probably helped contribute to the film’s success. Let’s face it, Independence Day is pretty terrible in several ways. Do we really need to see a sequel to this film without the box office draw of the original cast?

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Comments

  • http://www.facebook.com/robert.shepard.96 Robert Shepard

    Independence Day was pretty jignostic…

  • http://twitter.com/DDSyrdal D. D. Syrdal

    It was totally the characters and the humor that made the movie for me. But it so does not need to be in 3D. Ever.

  • Master_Kress

    If we are to take anything from George Lucas and Steven spielberg its that, waiting 15 years to make a sequel is NEVER a good idea.

  • bhak1

    I’m shocked that Emmerich is anti-3D, I would have expected the opposite. That said, this could be fun but it feels way to late. Independence Day’s success was about a lot of things. It had a cast and characters that while perhaps not super deep, were very relate-able for American audiences of the mid 90s. The rural drunk, the paranoid nervous New Yorker, the charismatic young soldier who happens to be dating a stripper yet dreams of being an astronaut, and (in that era) the young president who has recently fallen from grace. Add to that the period. The Cold War was over, the economy was booming. Problems? I guess some soldiers were sent to minor conflicts in small countries on the other side of the world but overall there was no threat to the American way of life at that time. The US was on top of the world yet individuals all had personal problems. Then along comes the Alien Genocide squad to exterminate humanity out of nowhere. Add in the always popular fighter plane sequences (the modern knight as exemplified by Luke Skywalker and Will Smith) and you had a recipe for success. The problem is the world has changed quite a bit since then. It could still be done but it would have to be less America-centric. The ensemble cast of families spanning the US could easily be adapted to a global film (although gringos hate subtitles).