It took 20 years for Independence Day to get its first sequel, but Independence Day: Resurgence was expected to be the first of three planned follow-up films that would continue Roland Emmerich's holiday-centric alien invasion story. The original movie was a box office smash and earned mostly favorable reviews; sadly, Resurgence was too little, too late.

The movie was slammed by critics for being an elaborate but ultimately empty spectacle, and while it wasn't an intergalactic bomb at the ticket booth, its lackluster receipts didn't indicate much audience interest in the movie or its potential sequels, and its franchise potential fizzled. There's still some hope for those who'd like to see the future of the series (which would see some of its heroes on a new space adventure); according to Emmerich, he and the studio are at least considering turning to the small screen to carry out the next ID4 adventure. But it hardly looks like the blockbuster franchise it was poised to be.