Roland Emmerich Dishes Details on Two 'Independence Day' Sequels

As we wait for the first trailer for Roland Emmerich's action thriller White House Down to arrive a little later today, the director recently divulged some details about the long gestating but not-yet-solidified sequel to his 1996 sci-fi blockbuster Independence Day. While Fox was once planning on re-releasing that film in theaters in 3D this year, those plans are currently on hold indefinitely. Could they be waiting to lock down plans for Emmerich's sequel with co-writer Dean Devlin before planning a re-release? That may be the case as Emmerich seems to have a hold on where not one, but two sequels, would take the franchise.

The two sequels would be called ID Forever Part I and Part II, happening in what will likely be real time if the films end up getting released as the story, which also had a rewrite from James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man) takes place 20 years after the first film when reinforcements finally arrive to attack Earth. But the humans aren't unprepared this time. Emmerich explains to EW:

”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. It’s a changed world. It’s like parallel history. [Humans] have harnessed all this alien technology. We don’t know how to duplicate it because it’s organically-grown technology, but we know how to take an antigravity device and put it in a human airplane."

So who will be fighting aliens this time around? Well, Will Smith isn't confirmed to return, but Bill Pullman said he would love to come back at one point. However, it might not matter since the film takes place 20 years later, and it sounds like a new generation will take over. One of the new human heroes includes Smith's stepson Dylan, played in the original film by Ross Bagley. Emmerich says, "It’s still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it’s a little bit like the sons take over." That could be interesting, but hopefully we can at least get Jeff Goldblum and Brent Spiner back (even if he is dead).

So why the need for two films? Couldn't all this action actually be taken care of in one sequel? Giving away some of the game, Emmerich says, "The first one ends on a little success, but only enough to give the humans hope. And then in the second one they free themselves again [from the aliens].” But we've already seen the humans endure endless destruction of some of the most famous cities and landmarks, so what could possibly be worse? A slight retread might be in order with some changes as Emmerich vaguely explains, "We’ve rebuilt But [the aliens] also do different things.” Stay tuned.

1 Cody W on Mar 26, 2013

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