When Independence Day came out in 1996, it was a whole new level show for the sci-fi genre. A blockbuster to measure other blockbusters against. But Ddespite its immense success, it took 20 years for a sequel to come out. And when it did, it was terrible.
Fans of the original (like me) still heal our wounds because of the gravity of 2016 Independence Day: Resurgence is and, in a new interview, one of the film’s creators seems to feel the same way. “I think Roland (Emmerich) made a really interesting movie, but the studio asked us to make some changes that didn’t make sense to me and in the end we released a movie that I’m not crazy about,” co- writer and producer Dean Devlin told Yahoo in a new interview. “(Fox execs) said, ‘Modern tentpole movies don’t have comedy anymore,’ and I was like, ‘Have you ever seen a Marvel movie?’
The lack of humor in the film is one thing; the absence of the main star is another. In the same interview, Devlin explained how the original plan of the suite (and the potential third movie, Also) was to focus on Will Smith’s character, Steven Hiller. Of course, in the movie that came out, Hiller is dead and his son is one of the main characters. This was not the original plan.
“Before (Devlin and Emmerich) wrote a note, we sat down with Will Smith and said, ‘That’s the idea we have.’ He loved it and was super excited to do it,” Devlin said. “We wrote not one, but two sequels with him in mind and delivered them to the studio. They went crazy and were immediately given the green light; they told us, ‘This is the best first draft we’ve ever read of any script.’
So what happened in these scripts? “It was a bit like Rocky III“, continued Devlin. “He had become rich and he had become famous, and he had to get the eye of the tiger back, you know? He’s a little too comfortable and this is his chance to bring former Will Smith out of retirement.
It looks good. But, as we now know, Smith dropped the projects before filming (Devlin thinks he felt a little burnt out by his sci-fi bombshell, after Earth) and forced everyone to go in a different direction. “(Fox executives) also wanted to focus on young pilots, which had little to do with the original Independence Day“, Devlin said. “They thought young people wouldn’t want to watch Jeff Goldblum, which I thought was crazy. There was a great movie to be made there, and I wish we had made it. We too, Dean We too.
On Yahooyou can find out more about the Independence Day drama as well as what Devlin and Emmerich had planned for Godzilla 2 And Stargate 2. And look, We always think they should do the third movie where humans invade the alien planet.
Want more io9 news? Find out when to wait for the last wonder, star warsAnd star trek versions, what’s next for the DC Universe in Film and TVand everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
