Director Roland Emmerich spills in recent interview that he and his screenwriting partner Dean Devlin are set to do a sequel to his 1996 sci-fi, but won't do it without original star Will Smith.
- Oct 13, 2009
AceShowbiz - Director Roland Emmerich has a script written for a sequel to the 1996's "Independence Day", but "Independence Day 2" may still be far from seeing the light of day. Digging for the real reason behind the hold-up was Latino Review, which uncovers that the project's paralysis is related to 20th Century Fox and the original star Will Smith.
"Dean Devlin and I are still set to make a sequel likely because we've found some sort of idea and we approached FOX and FOX has not quite figured out how to incorporate Dean's and my deal, and Will's [Smith] deal," Emmerich began explaining on the situation. "Will wants to do it in some sort of a package they can live with."
"So it's just been in negations now since forever, and naturally FOX says 'Why don't you do it without Will Smith?' I said Will is essential for us, for this movie and actually for the audience too," he continued. "And, so, it's in limbo and lately the studios are fighting. Like gross players, and Will is a gross player and is probably the only gross player right now who's worth his gross. So we'll see what happens. I would love to do it."
"Independence Day" is a sci-fi movie about a hostile alien invasion of Earth. The story focuses on a disparate group of individuals and families as they coincidentally converge in the Nevada desert and participate in a last-chance retaliation on July 4. It won the Academy Award for Visual Effects and was nominated for Best Sound. It has raked in $817.4 million worldwide.
Roland Emmerich is a German filmmaker who is best known for his works in disaster and action genres. His credits include "Godzilla", "The Patriot", "The Day After Tomorrow" and "10,000 B.C.". On November 11, he will present his latest disaster feature film as "2012 (2009)" opens wide in U.S. theaters.
