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Roland Emmerich shares unused plot for Independence Day sequel

June 14, 2016 by Gary Collinson

It’s taken director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin two decades to get their Independence Day sequel off the ground, and with the release of Independence Day: Resurgence fast approaching, Emmerich has shared an unused plot for the follow-up during an interview with Empire.

“It was after 9/11 and Dean and I wanted to make the movie about peace, and it just didn’t work,” states Emmerich. “There’s still an element of that in the new one, but that version was only about that. We shoot aliens down accidentally and then at the end of the movie they land on the White House lawn and say ‘we come in peace’ and that was it. It was just too weak an idea and we didn’t really want to do it. [It] didn’t have an Independence Day feel. Only the alien ship was destroyed!”

Emmerich also confirmed that he has plans for a third movie should Resurgence prove to be a hit at the box office, and the wait won’t be as long: “If it’s successful enough, yes [there’ll be a third movie], because it’s set up for a sequel. In 20 years? No, I wouldn’t want to make it with a Zimmer frame!”

We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.

Independence Day: Resurgence is set for release on June 24th 2016, with Roland Emmerich directing returning stars Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch, Brent Spiner and Bill Pullman alongside new additions Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Nymphomaniac), Maika Monroe (It Follows), Sela Ward (The Day After Tomorrow), Joey King (Wish I Was Here), Jessie Usher (When The Game Stands Tall), Angelababy (Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon) and William Fichtner (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

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Originally published June 14, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.

Filed Under: Gary Collinson, Movies, News Tagged With: Independence Day, Independence Day Resurgence, Roland Emmerich

About Gary Collinson

Gary Collinson is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Flickering Myth. He is a film, television and digital content writer and producer, whose work includes the gothic horror feature The Baby in the Basket and the suspense thriller Death Among the Pines. He is also the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.

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