Roland Emmerich Reveals Independence Day Sequel Plots
This article is more than 2 years old
Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day has been rumored to be getting a sequel since breaking box office records in 1996. So when word broke that we would be getting, not one but two sequel movies, fans of Independence Day rejoiced. But would it be too late to make a sequel to a movie that is now 17 years old?
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Roland Emmerich, while promoting his latest film White House Down, spoke briefly about Independence Day Forever Part I and Part II. Apparently, the time off between Independence Day and its sequels is well warranted. Emmerich explained:
The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back… And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years.
So the new movies would take place in real time after the fictional events of the first Independence Day. The sequel movies would also look at the technology the alien race left after the climax of the first film. The world has changed and now humanity can take advantage of the new alien technology.
As for the film’s cast, Bill Pullman is expected to reprise his role as Thomas J. Whitmore, but will most likely not be President of the United States anymore (unless the alien technology expanded Presidential Office terms). According to Emmerich, the films will “focus on a new generation of human heroes, including the stepson of Will Smith’s Independence Day character.” The character’s name was Dylan and was played by Ross Bagley, who is now 24 years old.
Roland Emmerich co-wrote the screenplays for both ID Forever: Part 1 and Part 2 with screenwriter James Vanderbilt (White House Down).
