Independence Day, or ID4 as most of us like to call it, was the big event blockbuster of 1996. Along with billions of others, I had enormous fun watching the film when it first hit theaters.
Years later, I still have a place in my heart for the sci-fi action flick, because ID4 is great for what it is: pure popcorn entertainment.
Interestingly enough, a spate of recent reports indicated there may be two ID4 in the works, speculation that ultimately confirmed by Dean Devlin, who co-wrote and produced the first film. In fact, Devlin just told The Hollywood Reporter that he and Roland Emmerich are working together for the first time in eleven years, and are really gung-ho about bringing it back.
“Creatively, for the very first time since we did the original, I feel we have a worthy concept, a worthy path to go.”
Devlin confirmed that he didn’t want to do a sequel for years “because we still wanted to honor the first one. The first one gave us all careers.” Still, ID4 wasn’t originally about making a ton of money, “we only wanted to do it when we had an idea and a concept that creatively felt like it honored the first one.”
Of course, a big factor in all of this is whether they can get Will Smith to reprise his role. We reported some time ago on TG that Smith would reportedly want $50 million to do two sequels to ID4, but if there’s only going to be one $25 million could be a real bargain in comparison.
Devlin didn’t say anything about who potential stars or protagonists, as things obviously aren’t that far along yet, but according to DigitalSpy, Devlin is currently in the process of contacting actors from the first film to see if they can come back for another installment.
