Independence Day Director Has Disappointing Update on Third Movie

Director of Independence Day Roland Emmerich had expressed for years that he and collaborator Dean Devlin aimed to make the concept a trilogy, and while fans got Independence Day: Resurgence in 2016, Emmerich recently offered a reminder that a third film seems unlikely. The filmmaker expressed how The Walt Disney Company acquiring original studio 20th Century Fox is what is complicating matters, as Disney seemingly isn’t currently interested in completing the trilogy. With there being a two-decade gap between the original movie and the sequel, we can’t quite give up hope entirely, though we also won’t be holding our breath on concluding the trilogy.

“Well, yeah. I’ve been like, ‘[Will’s character] died in number two,’” Emmerich shared with The Playlist in regards to potentially bringing back Will Smith for a third film. “But also, Disney now has the decision to make it, which is even worse, you know, because they never ever did my deal.”

The timing of developing Resurgence is likely what led to its mixed reactions from fans and critics, because even though original stars Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Brent Spiner, and Vivica A. Fox all returned for the sequel, Smith opted not to appear. The actor had always been intended to be a focal point of the next movie, though reports cite his commitment to Suicide Squad and his underwhelming experience in 2013’s After Earth as the reason he sat out Resurgence.

“Roland and I wrote it ourselves — we weren’t paid by the studio,” Devlin shared with Yahoo! Entertainment last year. “Before we wrote one word, we met with Will Smith and said, ‘This is the idea we have.’ He loved it and was super-excited to do it. We wrote not just one, but two sequels with him in mind and we handed them into the studio. They went crazy and greenlit immediately; they told us, ‘This is the best first draft we’ve ever read of any script.’”  

He continued, “All of a sudden, he turned it down … We were shocked. Looking back, I think he felt a little burned because he had done that sci-fi movie that didn’t do well and he was generally worried about doing sequels. Ultimately, he wouldn’t do it, but the studio wanted to go forward anyway and we kind of ended up in development hell for a bit.”

Emmerich also previously expressed his interest in potentially adapting the plans for a third film into a series.

“They have now a streaming service and they need product. I would love to do maybe a third one, or a TV show, continuing the story,” Emmerich explained to ComicBook in 2021. “When we did Independence Day: Resurgence, we already had, also, the third part already. And actually, the third part has much more to do with the first part, because we learned, more or less, that out there are a lot of refugees and they’re living on a refugee planet. And where [the aliens] finally come there because, somewhat like these aliens on earth, found out about it and telepathically or whatever gave it to their super queen. They’re all humans, but in all different forms. So it’s this thing that we have Brent Spiner and Jeff Goldblum and we have them with all these different forms of people, which would be a great movie. But we’ll see what happens.”  

Stay tuned for updates on the possible future of Independence Day.

Would you like to see a third film move forward? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!