The other day, I was engaged in a Facebook conversation about bad movies when somebody mentioned Independence Day. If I could have slapped them through TCP/IP I would have. I have an incredible love for director Roland Emmerich and writer Dean Devlin’s 1996 alien disaster flick and not just because it made a proper superstar out of a young Will Smith. Independence Day is like your favourite goofy canine friend: You know it’s not the smartest creature around, but its infectious excitement never fails to put a huge grin on your face whenever you see it.
So naturally I’m hoping that Emmerich and Devlin can recapture that magic for the film’s sequel 20 years later, despite Will Smith not returning this time around. Newcomer Jessie T. Usher will be leading the cast of both new faces and some old as Dylan Dubrow, a grown up version of Smith’s girlfriend’s son from the first film.
And now thanks to a new synopsis courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes (via IndieWire) we know a bit more about what he will be up to.
We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global catastrophe 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.
So Earth are now using alien tech and we have our own defense force? Well that will definitely level the playing field now and should make for some much bigger, proper army battles. Well, except for that “alien’s advanced and unprecedented force” bit.
We still don’t know exactly how Usher’s character ties into this story, but at least we know that he will be facing off against the same aliens from the first film.
One of the other returning old faces mentioned earlier is Jeff Goldblum, who will be reprising his role as cable guy/alien-mothership-destroying-virus-programmer David Levinson. Goldblum has just started shooting his bit in the film, and to commemorate it Dean Devlin posted this pic of him them on-set together again.
The other returning faces in Independence Day 2 will be Bill Pullman as ex-US President Thomas Whitmore, Vivica A. Fox as Jasmine Dubrow and Judd Hirsch as Julius Levinson. They will be joined by a new cast including Liam Hemsworth as Jake Morrison, Maika Monroe ex-First Daughter Patricia Whitmore, Sela Ward as new US President Lanford and Charlotte Gainsbourg and Joey King in undisclosed roles. The latest addition to the cast is British actor Deobia Oparei who will play Dikembe, “the Oxford-educated son of an African warlord”.
Independence Day 2 is scheduled for release on June 24, 2016, nearly exactly 20 years after the release of the first film.
Last Updated: May 28, 2015
The Sten
May 28, 2015 at 15:30
God I must have watched Independance day at least 20 – 30 times over and over until that poor video tape finnally shriveled up and died.
konfab
May 28, 2015 at 16:43
I made a new recording of it before that happened 😀
Rock789
May 29, 2015 at 07:28
This is still one of those movies that, since I was a kid, I’ve always loved. It’s just bloody entertaining! Still own it (actually bought it on blu-ray – have owned it on VHS and DVD too) and still watch it every now and then. Just a great, entertaining movie.
Looking forward to seeing what they do with the 2nd movie, so long after the 1st.
Ghost In The Rift
May 30, 2015 at 13:05
Watching that spaceship entering our atmosphere and parking over DC still gives me goosebumps to this day, oh my geeky mind!!